Flipped
by Pear Holiday
Summary: AU. When Naoki Irie, the Director of the Art Department at Pandai Corp. moves out of his home and subsequently has his funds on lockdown by his mother, he's forced to move in with the only employee without a roommate at the company apartment – Kotoko Aihara, whose love letter he had just rejected the day prior. Rated M for material and language.
1. In Which Naoki rejects Kotoko

**Author's Note:** Hello, everybody! It's my first time writing fanfiction, so I hope this is worth a read! I've been toying with this idea within my head for a while and wrote a brief outline of the entire story, and decided to actually flesh it out and write it, chapter by chapter.

A few differences you'll notice: firstly, Kin-chan is less obsessed with Kotoko, though he's still like a big brother to her. Secondly, Naoki and Kotoko never went to the same high school and only met each other at the company they both work at. Up until this point, their interactions have been minimal. And as for the rest… you'll have to read on to find out! ;)

Also, a few notes: the "busy checklist" that appears later has been appropriated from a famous Do Not Disturb sign online. Also, you'll see that there will be some scenarios that are familiar from the manga/anime/drama adaptations, but the story does take a different world from the original ItaKiss story.

I'm not sure how often I'll be updating, but reviews will definitely encourage me to write faster! ;) Hope you guys like it!

\- Pear Holiday

 **DISCLAIMER (APPLIES TO THE ENTIRE WORK): ITAZURA NA KISS DOES NOT BELONG TO ME IN ANY WAY. THIS IS A DERIVATIVE WORK OF FICTION WRITTEN FOR THE SAKE OF MY (and hopefully, your) ENJOYMENT!**

* * *

Kotoko smiled, as she pushed past the double doors of the company cafeteria's kitchen. Though she was basically a coffee-slave-cum-prop-bitch for the Art Department, her life had never been better. Kotoko was never the type to have high grades, and even was at risk of repeating grades during her time in high school, but she'd somehow managed to make the cut and make it into college.

Not that her grades in college were any better. Because she had skipped many of her general education classes in lieu of studying historical costumes in the library, she had barely scraped through. Not that it mattered much, since she had managed to put together an impressive portfolio and had been hired by Pandai Corp by graduation.

But even so, her being hired had been an act of god. By chance, her father's childhood friend had visited her father's restaurant three months before her graduation, and had asked her about what she'd planned to do after college. And when he had seen her portfolio, he had pulled all the ropes at his disposal to ensure that she had a job at Pandai awaiting her in Tokyo.

Upon researching the company online, she'd found that she'd been incredibly lucky. On one hand, Pandai was a place that demanded excellence and there were rumors that people who didn't make the cut would be forced to quit by the age of 30. She'd also have to leave Nagoya, which was three hours away from Tokyo via the Japanese Bullet Train. But on the other hand, Pandai employees were offered unprecedented benefits: not only did every employee have the right to live in the state-of-the-art apartment building owned by the company equipped with a 24-hour gym and surveillance, they were also guaranteed breakfast and lunch at the company's cafeteria where only those with extraordinary culinary ability would be given _some_ amount of consideration as a potential dishwasher for the kitchen.

And for Kotoko, who had doodled characters of all shapes, sizes, and eras on the margin of her notes for as long as she could remember, being offered a full-time position in the Art Department of such a company was a dream come true.

But it had already been two years at Pandai, and she was still relegated to what was casually referred to as the "prop bitch work" – mindlessly creating whatever props that the Level Designer needed. It was a tedious, thankless job for sure – but otherwise, life was great. Aside from Co-Section Chief Matsumoto, who had seemed to have a vendetta against her since her first day at the company, everyone else in her department had grown on her in their own way…

Especially Naoki Irie, the immaculately handsome Director of the Art Department.

Famed for his cool demeanor, good looks, and unparalleled skill, Naoki was a well-known individual within the company. Despite his being only twenty-four years old like Kotoko, he had managed to graduate college at the age of nineteen and had moved up to the position of Director within only five years. And though his father was the CEO of the company, Naoki's quick ascension up the ranks had everything to do with his skill, which had led the company's profit to increase by tenfold since he had joined the company.

But above all else, Naoki had been the object of Kotoko's unwavering affection since the day that she'd joined the company. And though he hadn't gone out of his way to acknowledge her presence much since then, she couldn't call her day complete without catching a glimpse of her at the company gym or at the office.

"Kotoko!" Chris, a baker recruited by Pandai from England, called from the other side of the counter. "Another coffee run, huh?"

Kotoko gave her a wry smile. "We're pushing a deadline, so everyone's a bit on edge."

Chris passed Kotoko a moka pot and a kettle of hot water. "Are you sure you don't just want me to get one of my line cooks to make it for you?"

Kotoko shook her head. "Making coffee is one of the only joys I have at work, so don't take that away from me!" Chris laughed.

"Oy, is that Ko-chan?" Kinnosuke, a line cook from Osaka, said, wiping his hands as he walked into view. "Here on another coffee run for those assholes upstairs?"

"It's because Kotoko's coffee is the best!" Chris laughed. "It's not their fault that they can't get enough of it, Kin-chan."

Kinnosuke finished wiping his hands on the dishrag, and slapped it against the metal counter. "I told you not to call me that, silly girl… But still, it's been two years of this nonsense! When are they gonna let her design some characters, already?"

Chris scattered a handful of flour over the countertop, and brought over laminated dough and a rolling pin. "Don't worry, Kin-chan… they'll do it when the time's right!"

Kotoko grabbed a metal jug and filled it with milk. "It's fine… I mean, it's not that out of the ordinary for people to do entry-level tasks for a year or two."

"But this is Pandai we're talking about! You know, the company that pretty much forces you into an early retirement if you're not famous within the industry by the time you're thirty!" Ken-chan drank from a plastic quart container full of water. "You know how many people I've seen come and go just within my own five years here?"

"But Kin-chan, you're a line cook now!" Chris said, wrapping the dough in plastic. "At any other restaurant, you could've been the sous-chef by now!"

Kinnosuke smirked. "That's true, but then there wouldn't be anyone to watch over Ko-chan. I'll have to work on opening my three-Michelin star restaurant later."

Chris placed the dough in the freezer, smiling. "Of course! And when that time comes, I'll be in charge of your pastry program!"

"Hey, Chris… are you making croissants today?" Kotoko said, lining up nine empty mugs on a plastic tray. "Is that what the dough is for?"

Chris winked. "Close! I had a loaf of bread that was kinda like a croissant over at Ginza the other day, and I wanted to try and make it for breakfast tomorrow."

Kotoko's eyes lit up. "Wow! I'm looking forward to it!"

"Drop by for dinner service, then! I'll sneak you a sample!" Chris said, passing Kotoko the steamed jug of milk.

Kotoko sighed. "I wish. I don't even have clothes that I could wear for dinner here." It was true that all Pandai employees were guaranteed breakfast and lunch at the company cafeteria, but dinner was not included. This was due to the fact that it became open to the public for dinner as an upscale restaurant, Pandissimo.

Upscale, meaning unaffordable for someone living off Kotoko's salary. Pandai offered great benefits, certainly, but its entry-level wages was a bit lower than that of an average company.

Chris sighed. "I'll stop by your room with some leftovers from dinner service later, if you want. One can't live on cup noodles alone. I'm surprised you're not a cup noodle by now… Sheesh!"

Kotoko laughed. "I'm not what I eat, Chris! Though if that were true…" She poured a shot of espresso in each cup, and poured varying levels of milk, foam, and water into the mugs. "Hey, where are the sugar packets?"

Kinnosuke grabbed a handful of sugar packets and stirrers out of his apron, put them into another plastic quart-sized container, and set it onto the tray. "Here. Keep these upstairs. Otherwise, the sous-chef is going to notice."

"Thanks, Kinnosuke!" Kotoko smiled, and lifted the tray. "I'll be looking forward to the leftovers later then, Chris!"

"Just come into my room around 8 p.m.! You know the passcode for my door, right?"

"927812, right?"

"It's the reverse, Kotoko! 218729!"

"Oops… See you later then!" Kotoko pushed the door open with her foot, and gently eased her way out.

"Later!"

"Bye, Ko-chan!"

* * *

"What took you so damn long?!" Section Chief Yuuko Matsumoto shrieked, as Kotoko pushed the door to the Art Department open with her shoulder.

Kotoko smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, Section Chief Yuuko. But espresso takes…"

"I don't want your damn excuses. Just set that on my desk and get those props done for Tomoko, already!"

"But…"

"Shut it!"

"Okay…"

Kotoko made her rounds around the office, and set down the rest of the drinks: a latte for Kikyou and Marina, an Americano for Tomoko and Section Chief Sudou, and a doppio for Keita and herself. She set the quart container of stirrers and sugar packets next to the office plants, and took the last mug – a doppio – off the tray.

Yuuko walked over, and snatched the mug from her hand. "I'll take this to Director Irie, so you sit back down and do some damn work for a change."

"Um, Director Irie likes…" Kotoko began, fiddling in the container for a stirrer.

"I said, shut it!"

As soon as Yuuko walked away from view, Kikyou flipped her off. "That bitch seriously needs to get laid."

Marina smirked. "If that's the case, you already needed to get laid ten times over."

Kikyou smacked Marina lightly on the shoulder. "Bitch, don't play."

Tomoko got up and patted Kotoko – who was visibly droopier – on the shoulders. "Now, don't let her get you down, Kotoko! She's always been like that."

Keita nodded. "You can't take the bitch out the bitch, no matter how hard you try. So don't get yourself down over it." He took a sip of his coffee, and exhaled deeply. "On point, as always!"

Kotoko grinned, and sat down at her seat. "It's the one thing I _can_ make without screwing it up, so I should be somewhat good at it, right?"

"There's another thing you're really good at, though…" Kikyou said, sauntering over to hug Kotoko from behind. "Right, honey? Please?"

Kotoko turned on her computer monitor. "Nope. I made you coffee, so don't try to sweet talk me into doing anything else."

"But you're the best coffee maker in the whole building, darling! I can't have a sub-par beverage touch my lips… You know, like the ones he makes." Kikyou smirked, signaling toward Keita.

"It takes you 5 seconds to make instant coffee, so get off your bony ass and do it yourself for a chance!" Keita sneered, not looking up from his work. "Though I second Kikyou's compliment."

Kikyou rolled his eyes. "Like I said, sub-par. Please, hon? I need a massage… my shoulders feel so stiff! Please?"

Paying no mind, Kotoko typed in the password for her computer. But Kikyou's hug grew tighter, until it was almost like a choke-hold.

"Please? I. Need. It."

Kotoko coughed, writing under Kikyou's grip. "You damn bully! Stop it!"

Section Chief Sudou sipped his coffee calmly, but there was a fire in his eyes. "Motoki, if you make me go over there, I'll make sure you'll never drink Aihara's coffee again."

Kikyou quickly slipped his arms away from Kotoko and scrambled to his seat. Glaring at Kikyou, Kotoko touched her neck. "There are better ways of asking, you know!"

Keita rolled his chair closer to Kotoko's. "Can I stop by later, though? My back is killing me!" he whispered.

"I guess the full-time intern life is taking a toll on you, isn't it?" Kotoko whispered back. "Speaking of which, you're the intern here! Why am I still the one making coffee?" she playfully smacked him on the arm.

"Everyone knows your coffee is the best. You should be flattered, really." Keita nudged her.

"What the hell are you two whispering about?" Yuuko roared, reappearing from the other end of the hallway.

* * *

Director Naoki irie was a man of few words, and even fewer emotions. So, it was natural that he could not recall recall a single time in his life when he had been more annoyed than in this very moment.

"Goddammit, Naoki! You can't just keep living your life like this!" his mother, Noriko, had screamed over the phone. "I told you that I needed you to come to my photo gallery opening, didn't I? That's all I've ever asked from you, and…"

"Stop it, Mother!" he'd screamed back, finally having lost it after having similar conversations countless times since he'd begun working at Pandai, five years ago. "Stop beating around the bush! This isn't about that, is it? I told you, I had an important meeting with a client! Do you think I do these things to spite you? How many times-"

"Nao, you need to have a healthy work-life balance! You've spent the night at the office for so many nights this month… This is why you need to transfer to the Strategy Planning Department, like me and your father want—"

A new wave of irritation had rose within Naoki. "That's enough! Goddammit! Stop it!" With that, he had hung up, and had thrown his phone onto his couch. Running a hand through his hair, he let out an exasperated sigh.

"My, is this a bad time?" Yuuko said, opening the door without knocking and sauntering over with a mug. "I got it for you while it's still hot." Naoki looked up. She'd forgotten the stirrer. He sighed again.

"Care to talk about it?" Yuuko said, setting the mug in front of him and seating herself across from Naoki.

Naoki pushed the mug aside. "Knock much? And if you don't have any other business, then leave."

Yuuko's lip curled upward. "Well, sir, there's the matter of the staff dinner tomorrow…"

"I told you I'm going. So is that it?"

Yuuko sighed, maintaining her smile. "Yes, Naoki-kun. I'll-"

"Hey," Naoki interjected, not looking up. "I know we went to the same college, but don't call me by my name. Especially at work."

Yuuko closed the door behind her. Sighing, Naoki got up to retrieve his phone from the couch.

"Hello? Secretary Funatsu? Get me a reservation at the Palace Tokyo Hotel for tonight. Yeah, the penthouse. Use my black Amex. No, just one night… Mother will find me otherwise."

* * *

"Finally!" Kotoko cried, stretching in her study. "Geez, this took way too long!" Though Kotoko had been assigned a two-bedroom apartment, she had enjoyed the luck of not having been assigned a roommate for two whole years. Therefore, she'd repurposed the spare room into a study. The shelves were crammed with costume references, illustrated weapon encyclopedias, and filled sketchbooks. The empty bed had been turned into an extra shelf, for the especially large reference books, and and a temporary resting place for her drying canvases. True, it did get a bit lonely sometimes, but it was great to have a study on top of a beautifully-furnished apartment, all for herself!

Just then, the front door beeped three times, signaling that someone had punched in the correct code for her door. "Kotoko!"

"Keita?"

"Yep!" She heard him taking off his shoes at the foyer.

"Just a second!" Kotoko began reshelving some of her books.

"I have food, from Chris!"

At that, Kotoko immediately ran out of her study. "Food? Didja say food?"

Keita laughed and sat down on her couch. "You're so simpleminded."

"Psh… is there anyone who doesn't like to eat?" Kotoko pursed her lips, as she took the seat next to him. "So… what did Chris pack for me?"

Keita passed the bag over to Kotoko, to have her practically shred it apart. She set each item down, one by one: pasta carbonara, ciabatta, rosemary foccacia, caprese salad, cream puffs, two forks, and napkins. Her jaw dropped.

Keita pushed her jaw up with his thumb. "Hey, any wider, and your jaw will fall to the floor." He reached for one of the forks, only to have it slapped out of his hand.

"Hey, this is all mine, you know!" Kotoko practically snarled.

Keita reached over and grabbed a slice of focaccia. "I'm taking some as a delivery fee. Plus, Chris packed enough for two!"

"Yeah, maybe in your world… For me, this is barely enough for one!" Kotoko snatched the rest of the focaccia hanging out of Keita's mouth, and placed it back into the container.

"Che. Cheapskate." Keita got up, and walked over to her cabinet. "Sheesh… Do you have anything else except cup noodles?"

Kotoko smiled sheepishly, her mouth full of carbonara. "Um… maybe a bottle of hot sauce in the fridge? Or some canned ham?"

Keita rolled his eyes, as he walked back over to the couch. "You call that food?"

"You said 'something…' You didn't specify that it had to be food."

Keita shoved Kotoko over to the far end of the couch, and grabbed the container of carbonara our of Kotoko's hands.

"Hey! What the hell?" Kotoko shrieked, getting up. But Keita moved out of her way smoothly, dancing around her living room to evade her. And when he had finished approximately half of the pasta, he handed it back to her. "Wow, Kinnosuke-san was telling me about the smoked bacon he was aging… Tastes great!"

Kotoko practically poured the rest of the container's remains into her mouth, barely chewing. She painfully swallowed it all down, and let out a satisfied sigh. "Well, you can pretty much forget about the massage now."

Keita immediately dropped to his knees, clasping his hands together. "Please, Kotoko-sama! Almighty Goddess, please grace me with this honor!"

Unyielding, Kotoko turned her attention to the caprese salad.

"Please, Kotoko? I have exams coming up at school! At this rate, I'll…!"

Kotoko sighed happily, having polished off the last basil leaf of the caprese salad. "Fine… but don't think I'll be making any more special exceptions for you just because the company did!"

Keita winked. "it's not my fault I'm so damn talented and the company wanted me a year before I graduated college."

"Tch! Is that any way to talk to your goddess?"

"Kotoko-sama! Forgive me, Almighty One!"

"Heh. You should've been that way from the start."

Kotoko had stuffed the rest of the dinner down her throat, and had fallen fast asleep on Keita's shoulder while the two of them had been watching TV after his massage. Smiling gently, Keita gently lifted Kotoko's head off his shoulder and got up slowly. He went into her study to fetch a blanket, when he caught a glimpse of something on her desk. It was a yellow pad of sticky notes, with a doodle drawn on it. He picked it up and flipped through a couple of pages, to see that it was a flipbook.

"Tch… when did she have time to make this?" he smiled, as he flipped through it. But as he did, his smile slowly melted off his face.

"Hello, Director Irie," it read, with animated caricatures of Kotoko and Naoki moving around. "I'm Kotoko Aihara, from your department. For two years, I admired you for your intelligence and your coolness, ever since the first time I met you, when you critiqued my portfolio and pointed out a mistake in my 12th Century Greek character's clothing. I have no hope of becoming a director like you at our age, or anything like that, but I hope to get to know you better if possible. Simply put, Director, I like you."

Was she seriously planning to confess to that ice block of a human, Naoki Irie? But what if she was fired for this? Hopefully, it was just a pet project of hers – nothing serious. Keita put it back on her desk, his heart sinking into his stomach.

"It's not exactly Shakespeare, but I have to give her points for originality…" he muttered, as he grabbed a blanket. Unfolding it, he carried it toward Kotoko, and tucked her in. He closely inspected her sleeping face: thick, brown eyelashes, rosy cheeks, smooth skin, upturned lips.

Unable to resist, he kissed her forehead.

"Good night… Kotoko."

The door clicked shut.

* * *

A sleek black sedan came to a stop in front of Pandai Corp. Naoki checked his watch: 8:40 a.m. A little later than he'd preferred, but it'd have to do.

"Can you take the suitcases out of the trunk and leave them at the reception area for me?" Naoki reached into his pocket and pulled out his American Express Centurion card. "Here."

The driver nodded, and took the card with both hands. However, he frowned upon swiping. "Sir, the card was declined."

"What?" Naoki glared. "It's probably your machine. Try again." The driver quietly did so again, and shook his head.

"Do you have another card, sir? I also take cash." The driver said nervously, eyeing the lock-door switch in the car.

Naoki let out an exasperated sigh. "Goddammit… Here, try this one." He passed the driver his Chase Palladium card.

"Very good, sir." The driver swiped the card, only to have it declined yet again.

"Goddammit!" Naoki shouted. He opened his wallet, and passed the driver a 5,000 Yen bill. "Keep the change." He got out, pulled his luggage out of the trunk, and reached for his phone.

"Funatsu?" he snapped, pushing through the revolving doors with his shoulder while dragging his luggage along. "My Amex and my Chase cards were declined. Yeah, the third time this morning. Call them and report back to me."

"Deadline's in two days, people! We need everything wrapped up to send over to Production, like yesterday!" Yuuko barked. "Especially you, prop people! Section Chief Sadou and Marina can't get the level finished if you're not done by the end of today!"

Kotoko and Keita sighed. "Yes, Section Chief Matsumoto."

Marina laughed nervously. "Well, it's not like-"

"That's all!" Yuuko barked, taking a seat.

Kotoko peeked into her bag and caught a glimpse of the flipbook she'd finished the day before. She had finally finished it, but when would she actually have the chance to give it to Director Irie? She stared her monitor. Was this even a good idea? What if she'd get fired?

Admittedly, Kotoko wasn't the most skilled person when it came to… well, most things. She was clumsy, not detail-oriented, terrible at multi-tasking, and unmentionably bad at household chores – hence her consistent diet of cup noodles, the heaps of garbage around her kitchen that had yet to be taken out, and the unwashed utensils piled up in her sink.

But if there was one thing she was truly good at, it was being perseverant. So, despite the fact that she'd had nothing but a handful of encounters with Director Irie, she'd steadily cultivated feelings for him. And before she'd realized it, two years had gone by.

Her feelings for him had reached the point where it almost was painful to see him every day without confessing. Every time she'd delivered his coffee or passed him in the hallway, her heart was full of happy dread and anxiety. What she'd give to have as many excuses to visit his office as often as Section Chief Matsumoto did…

But a small seed of hope had been planted in her heart ever since the first day that she'd met him. Maybe, just maybe, he had fallen for her as she did, but was too shy to make the first move. Maybe he'd been looking for an opportunity to tell her of his feelings, without avail. Maybe her confession could be the extra push that the two of them needed.

She put the yellow pad in her pocket, and smiled.

Maybe, just maybe, her world could change by tomorrow. With this.

* * *

"Mother, you can't do this!" Naoki yelled, standing up abruptly as he slammed his hand on his desk.

"Actually, I can, honey." Noriko singsonged into the phone. "I'm sorry it's had to come to this, but you left me with no other options."

Naoki sat back down, sighing. "Those were my accounts—"

"—which you were only able to open with your position at the company, so…"

"Mother!"

"I want you to transfer to the Strategy Planning Team as their new Director by the end of this week, or you might as well melt down your credit cards. That'll be the only way you'll be able to get your hands on any sort of cash."

Naoki threw his phone at the sofa again, and let out an exasperated sigh. He, who was known at the company for being cool, calm and collected, had lost his temper more in this entire week than he had ever done so in his life. Why couldn't his parents accept the fact that he had finally found something that he found himself becoming engrossed in?

Sighing again, he ran his fingers through his hair and let himself sink into his couch, fishing around for his phone.

"Funatsu? It's me. How much do I have in my Swiss account?"

"Enough to last you about twenty nights at penthouse suites, sir."

Naoki sighed. "Dammit, that's it?"

"Well, sir, you were the one who said that it'd be too noticeable if you withdrawed too much per month out of your main accounts. Which is true, of course."

Naoki took a sip of his coffee. "Damn. Well, that's true. Do we have any other options?"

"I'm currently looking into vacancies at the company apartment, sir."

"I won't be able to redirect my direct deposit because of my mother, so I guess that's the best option." Naoki sighed. "But make sure you get me a studio. The best one."

"I'll try my best, sir."

* * *

"Kotoko, hello? Earth to Kotoko! I brought you lunch!" Chris called, to no response. Upon approaching her, she saw that both Kotoko and Keita had put soundproof headphones on and taped signs onto their backs reading the following:

" _DO NOT DISTURB. I'm on a tight schedule today._

 _Exceptions in case of an emergency are permitted._

 _Emergency checklist:_

 _Are you on fire and I'm the only one who can put you out?_

 _Am I on fire and I don't realize it?_

 _Is it the second coming?_

 _FAQ:_

 _Q: How's it going?_

 _A: Good_

 _Q: What are you working on?_

 _A: Stuff_

 _Q: How's stuff going?_

 _A: See answer #1_

 _Q: Do dolphins Sleep?_

 _A: Yes, they are mammals and they do sleep._

 _If you have an issue or concern, please address them to Ms. Yuuko Matsumoto._ "

Chris giggled. "This again? At least you changed the fun fact this time." She set down the lunch she'd packed next to Kotoko, who still had not noticed her, and walked toward the door. As she left, Naoki entered.

"Hey, can one of you make me some coffee?" he said, not looking up from the documents he was reading. When he received no response, he frowned and looked up.

"Hello?"

What, even his employees were trying to piss him off now? He briskly walked over to where Kotoko and Keita were working and opened his mouth, but closed it once he caught a glimpse of the sign on their backs.

He smirked, and walked back to his office. He'd have to ask someone else today.

* * *

"Oh, Funatsu." Naoki said, as he entered his office. "The meeting with Lizzard ended well, I presume?"

Funatsu bowed. "Yes, sir. We'll have to adjust your schedule for the next two weeks so that you can meet with their Art Director, but everything else ended well without a hitch."

Naoki sat down. "Good. And what about my living arrangements?"

Funatsu opened his briefcase. "Well, the thing is, sir… there's only one room left in the apartments due to all the new hires this year. It's either that or moving back home, and the room was going to be filled by tomorrow otherwise, so I signed the paperwork for you already."

"Whatever. If it's not in the VIP wing, it's fine as long as it's a studio. Also, can you tell Matsumoto to get me a cup of coffee?"

Not wanting to the bearer of any more bad news, Funatsu left the copy of Naoki's lease and apartment specs on his desk before hurrying out. Naoki glanced downward at the documents, and then back up.

"FUNATSU! GET THE HELL BACK HERE! WHAT IS THIS?!"

* * *

"Five o' clock, whoo!" cheered Kikyou, pushing away from his desk and leaning back into his chair. "Staff dinner time!" He glanced over at the pair sitting across from him. "Hey, almost done, Kotoko? Keita?"

The two remained unresponsive, and Kikyou laughed. "Well, more time for me to touch up my makeup for Naoki-kun, then…"

Marina pushed Kikyou's chair back in as she passed by. "Not before me, you won't!"

"I don't think so, bitch! Wait your turn!"

Smiling sweetly, Tomoko walked past the bickering pair and knocked on the bathroom door.

"Occupied!" Yuuko yelled from within.

"All right, that texture there…" Keita muttered. "And… finished! Finally! Section Chief Sadou, I'm sending the files to you!" Sadou gave him a thumbs-up, not looking up from his own work.

Kikyou, Marina, and Tomoko squabbled over the mirror on Yuuko's desk, as Keita rolled his eyes. He turned toward Kotoko, and looked at her screen. Pulling off one side of her headphones, he murmured, "Almost done?"

Kotoko shushed him. "I have one more after this one."

"Just send it to me! I'll finish it up for you." Keita said, sitting back down. "Then we can head over to the staff dinner together."

Kotoko shook her head. "That's not fair to you, Keita. Just go enjoy the dinner with everyone else." But before Kotoko could protest further, he saved Kotoko's work and pulled out her flash drive. He transferred the remaining file onto his own desktop, and passed the flash drive back to her.

"It's going to be a while until the girls are done getting prettied up for Director Irie, so I might as well do something productive."

Kotoko looked at him apologetically. "You're always helping me, though…"

Keita laughed. "Well, that's why Pandai hired me... So I could pick up the slack around here."

* * *

"I want you to find me another room by the time the staff dinner is over." Naoki said coldly, putting documents into his suitcase. "It has to be a studio."

Funatsu paled. "But sir, all the studios are taken, and the papers have been-"

"Then kick someone out of those studios or something. And you signed those papers, not me." Though Naoki's expression remained the same, it almost looked as if he was throwing documents into his suitcase at this point.

"Sir." Funatsu said, passing Naoki a slip of paper. "Here's the passcode for the room. And your roommate's name is written there, too. The Housing Department sent them an email around noon, so they should know by now."

Funatsu placed the paper on Naoki's desk, and bowed. "Well, it's time for me to clock out, so I'll be seeing you tomorrow, sir." He walked out of the office, closing the door behind him.

Naoki exhaled through his nose and closed his eyes. Then, he grabbed the slip of paper, and put it into his pocket.

Why the hell did it matter who his roommate was, anyway? He'd make sure that a studio opened up for him, sooner or later. He sat back down, and dialed the number of the Housing Department.

"Hello, Director Yamamoto? Yes, it's Director Irie from the Art Department…"

* * *

"And… done!" Kotoko sighed in happiness, taking off her headphones and stretching in her chair. She looked over at the clock on her desk. "6:25, huh…?" Hopefully, Director Irie would still be there.

Keita looked over at her. "Done? I just finished up, too!" He held up his arm, and she high-fived him. "All right… let me send this over to you, and you can send these all off to Section Chief Sudou."

Kotoko nodded happily. "Thanks so much, Keita! Where's the dinner today, again?"

He rolled his eyes. "What would you do without me, seriously?" He passed her the notice about the departmental staff dinner from his desk, and leaned back into his chair.

"Oh, a yakiniku spot! I love yakiniku!" Kotoko squealed, putting the paper down to finish sending the files.

"Is there a type of food that you actually don't like?"

Kotoko punched his shoulder lightly as she stood up. "Shaddup! Well, I'm done sending the files, so I'm ready to go when you are."

He slung his arm around her, and pulled her close as he got up with her. "Guess you don't have time to get prettied up for Director Irie, since we're already late!"

Kotoko turned red. "A-a-a-as if! Shut up! Come on, let's go!" she wriggled free from his grasp, and ran toward the door. Keita looked at her for a moment, smiling sadly, before he put on a wide grin and followed after her.

"Hey, wait!"

* * *

"I'm sorry, sir, but priority for studios are given to employees who are married. And eviction of those employees is out of the question, even for someone of your position."

Naoki exhaled slowly. "So there's really no other vacancy?"

"Yes, sir. And as the employees who live in the VIP wing are mostly executive-level employees, many of them outrank you."

Suddenly, Naoki contemplated accepting his mother's proposition. If he became the director of the Strategy Planning Department, his rank would only be second to the board members and his father. He wouldn't have to deal with this nonsense of living with a roommate, and his otherwise perfect lifestyle would be back to normal. Was being the Director of the Art Department really worth all this hassle?

But even so...

No. He'd found something he actually felt passionate about for the first time in his life. He couldn't give it up so easily. And if he had to live with someone else besides his family for the first time in his life for fleeting moments of passion toward anything, then so be it.

"Thank you, Director Yamamoto. That'll be all, then. Thank you for your efforts." Naoki hung up, and sighed, for what felt like was the millionth time this week, and put Funatsu's note in his pocket. He'd figure this out later. First, he'd try and enjoy the staff dinner.

* * *

"Oh, I got an email!" Kotoko chirped, as she and Keita walked through the doors of the yakitori restaurant. Then, her face almost immediately fell. "I'm getting a roommate?"

Before Kotoko could read past the subject line, Keita took her phone, locked the screen, and handed it back to her. "Just try to de-stress for now. We all need this. They're probably not gonna move in until the day after tomorrow, anyway, so just read the room assignment later."

Kotoko put the phone in her pocket, next to the yellow notepad. "You're right… whatever, I'll just check it later." She certainly didn't like the fact that she had to disassemble her study, but she did like the fact that she wouldn't be as lonely anymore. Keita led Kotoko to the back of the restaurant, which was partitioned off for the departmental dinner.

"Over here, you guys!" Kikyou called, eating delicately. "Everyone else is already here!" Kotoko's eyes roamed all around, and locked onto her target. Naoki Irie. She smiled involuntarily, and sat down next to Tomoko and Kikyou. She wished that she had the courage to sit next to him, but a seat diagonal from him would have to do.

Keita took the seat across from Kotoko, next to Naoki. "Nice to see you, Director. Can I pour you a drink?"

Naoki smiled. "Ah, yes. You're the full-time intern, right? I've heard about you."

Keita grinned wryly. "Kamogari, sir."

Kotoko's ear prickled. She silently wondered if he remembered her, too, from the countless times that she had brought him his coffee.

"Ah. Well, I'd appreciate a drink." Naoki held the glass in his hand, and Keita poured the shochu slowly. Just then, Yuuko bumped into Naoki, knocking most of the liquor out of his cup and onto his shirt.

"Ahhh… Naoki-kun….! Theeeeere you wereee!" Yuuko slurred, her head bopping back and forth. As she teetered, her shirt swayed dangerously down toward her cleavage. "Y'know… I don't know why you're just soooooooooo cold!"

Marina nudged Kikyou, stifling a laugh. "Are you getting a load of this?"

Kikyou held his phone in front of him subtly, recording the whole debacle. "Way ahead of you, hon."

Kotoko laughed nervously. "What if she finds out?" she hissed, stuffing grilled chicken into her mouth.

"If she gives me a reason, the entire company will find out." Kikyou smirked.

Keita only shook his head, sipping on oolong tea.

"Like… I…. said…! What's wroooong with meeeeeeeeee, huh? I'm. The. Fuuulll. Paaaackage!" Yuuko slurred, stabbing her chest with her finger.

Naoki glared down at his shirt, now soaked. "Excuse me. I need to go use the facilities."

Yuuko grabbed his arm. "Noooo…. Take me with youuuuuu!" But she let go as quickly as she had grabbed him, and passed out onto the floor, her cleavage spilling out through the front of her very low-cut shirt.

Kotoko watched Naoko get up. He was going off alone. This was the perfect chance! Kotoko began to rise, as well, when Kikyou grabbed her arm.

"Where are you going, hon? It just got sooooo good." He said, lifting his camera to capture Yuuko splayed on the floor. "Want a copy?"

Kotoko laughed nervously. "Um… I'll be right back."

* * *

Naoki dried off the front of his shirt as best as he could, his grey eyes narrowing. What the hell was up with Yuuko, lately? Though she was often annoying, he had respected her for being the closest to a peer he had at Pandai. But lately, all she seemed to be concerned with was trying to seduce him.

Where had the sharp, driven Yuuko that he'd known gone? Why did emotions make people so stupid?

He shook his head. Of course, he had been popular since elementary school and had received his fair share of love letters from girls throughout his schooling... Not that he'd read any of them, since he'd never even accepted them. But he had an idea of what they'd say, anyway, so he wasn't too curious. They were probably all stupid and formulaic, like the typical fare from dramas and mangas: Hello, my name is XYZ, I don't know you, but somehow I know I'm in love with you, so please waste your time on me. Kthanksbye. How did these girls expect him to react if they themselves acknowledged that he didn't know them? Was he supposed to sprout feelings for them out of thin air to keep them happy?

Naoki Irie didn't have time for such trifles.

Drying his hands, Naoki opened the door of the bathroom – and stepped back involuntarily.

* * *

When Kotoko saw Naoki emerge, she thrust the yellow sticky note pad at him with both hands, and bowed.

"Director, please accept this!" she cried, squeezing her eyes shut. She wanted to look up to see what his reaction was, but some intangible force kept her head down.

She heard him take a step back. "Um… okay." She felt the sticky note pad leave her hands, but she still couldn't bring herself to raise her head.

She heard the flipping of the pages once, then twice.

Then, once more.

Then, there was nothing.

After Kotoko had been sure that an entire three minutes had elapsed without any activity, she raised her head slowly. "Um… Director?"

He was looking at her, and the look in his eyes did not look particularly kind.

"Um..."

"Is this… supposed to be some sort of love letter?" Naoki finally said, holding the pad between his index finger and his thumb.

Kotoko blushed. "Um… that is…"

Naoki took her hand, and dropped the pad into it.

"Miss… Kotoko, right?" he said, his face stoic. "For the sake of your job, let's pretend that this never happened."

* * *

 **Author's note:** What'd you think? I know it's a hearty (LONG) first chapter, but I'd love to hear your feedback! I don't think that the rest of them will be as long as this. I love criticism, as long as it's actually constructive and not just a flame!


	2. In Which Names Are Signed

**Author's note:** Thank you all for your wonderful reviews! I read them all at least 4 or 5 times when I felt stuck… no joke!

I meant to update the story on Tuesday night, but there was something was wrong with the FFN servers and I couldn't log in. So, in case stuff like this happens in the future, I set up a mailing list so that I can alert you guys. I put the link in my profile, so take a look! I'll also be sending out previews or clippings of upcoming chapters or stories!

Speaking of new stories, I published a new ItaKiss story earlier this week (rated M)… It's Naoki x Kotoko with a twist, so if you're into that sort of thing, go take a look!

One last announcement: in case something happens to any of my stories or my account, I also have everything backed up on Archive Of Our Own, under the username PearHoliday. If you frequent AO3 more than FFN, drop by and leave me some love! :)

Well then, without further ado, here's Chapter 2!

* * *

Chapter 2: In Which Names Are Signed

* * *

Kotoko washed her face and looked at her face in the mirror, and it served to reaffirm just how red and blotchy she felt it looked. Grabbing a paper towel, she blew her nose one last time. Feeling the coarseness of the material against her nose, she regretted it almost immediately and threw it in the trash. Then, fingering the yellow pad in her pocket, she tossed that in the trash as well.

Once Naoki had walked off toward the back door, Kotoko had locked herself in the bathroom and sobbed – but not too loudly, since she didn't want anybody to hear. Especially Director Irie, who could be right around the corner. The last thing she wanted the staff dinner to turn into was a pity party, especially when the entire department had come to blow off some steam due to their impending deadline. Sure, some had blown off more steam than necessary – namely, Yuuko – but it was all in the name of good fun.

Kotoko Aihara prided herself on smiling through tough times, especially in front of others. She couldn't let the others see her like this. Sighing, she patted her face dry one more time, and exited the bathroom.

However, something struck her – she couldn't just forget about her feelings for Irie-san just by tossing her "love letter" in the bin. And plus, she'd worked too damn hard on that. She quickly ran in and snatched the yellow pad back out of the garbage, not noticing that the last page fell off in the process.

Kotoko opened the bathroom door and peered both ways before exiting. Good. There was nobody waiting to use the bathroom. She crept toward the back door, but saw that Irie-san was in the middle of a phone call. Eyes widening, she immediately turned in the other direction.

Making sure that nobody from her department was looking her way, she quickly crept out of the hall and out the front door.

* * *

"Keita, come on! Just one shot?" Kikyou grinned.

Keita shook his head, a bit annoyed. "I'm good, Motoki. Plus, who's gonna take you home if all of us are drunk?"

Kikyou slapped Keita hard on the back, scowling. "Geez, Keita, I told you not to call me that! It doesn't sound cute! If you're going to call me by my ugly first name, at least call me Moto-chan…"

Suddenly, Yuuko stood up, holding her head. "Ugh…"

Ever the gentleman, Section Chief Takumi Sadou tried not to ogle too much at her breasts, which were very much visible due to her previous fall. "Yuuko-chan, you okay?"

Yuuko frowned, marring her otherwise perfect features. "Since when did I say it's okay for you to call me Yuuko-chan?"

Ignoring her jibe, Takumi rose to help. "Hey, are you feeling okay?"

For a second, Yuuko though that it was nice that someone cared, since nobody else seemed to. Shinagawa and Ogura were too busy having a contest to see who could shovel the most food down their throats in the most undistinguished manner, apparently. Motoki was harassing Kamogari about his supposed crush for Aihara… no, more like Air-heada. And said bitch was nowhere to be seen, thankfully. The reverie ended, however, when she realized that Naoki was nowhere to be seen, either. And Takumi—no, Sudou was feeling her up, as per usual.

"Where's Naoki…?" Yuuko murmured, trying to wriggle out of Sudou's grasp. Coming to her feet, she clutched her head and let out a sharp breath of air, as she fixed the front of her shirt.

"I think he went to the bathroom? I haven't seen him or Aihara in a while, actually. Irie's stuff isn't here, though… hmm…"

"Why the hell didn't you tell me that sooner, idiot?" she shrieked, grabbing Sudou's collar.

"Ah! Yuuko! Your nails… ow!" Sudou cried, now being the one trying to struggle free. Yuuko let go, and waddled away, still clutching her head.

"Yuuko?"

"Toilet…" she muttered, not looking back.

* * *

It was only 12 a.m., and Yuuko already was feeling nauseous.

"Naoki-kun? Naoki?" she called, knocking on the door of the only bathroom in the restaurant. "Hello?"

The door swung open when she pushed, and she allowed herself in. Suddenly, a wave of nausea hit her. She felt for the bathroom door in a frenzy to lock the door, her head hovering over the toilet.

And thus, she bid farewell to her expensive yakiniku dinner again and again, as it swirled down the drain.

With the last of her heavings, she felt sober again.

But somehow, feeling sober didn't feel quite right. She wanted to feel drunk again. And maybe Naoki-kun would let himself go tonight, too, and then…

And then…!

She rinsed her mouth, reapplied her lipstick, and smiled toward the mirror. Flawless, as per usual. She wiped her hands with a paper towel and was about to throw it into the garbage, when she noticed a single yellow sticky note stuck to another paper towel near the top.

Well, hello… what was this?

* * *

Naoki entered the lobby of the Pandai Apartments, sighing. This just wasn't his day. The departmental coffee girl was too busy to make his doppio con panna today. Then, Yuuko had invaded his personal space for the umpteenth time in a row. As if that hadn't been bad enough, he'd been slammed with this new living arrangement wherein he was stuck between living with some stranger or in his office. And then he'd been forced to leave the staff dinner early because of an awkward encounter with some girl from his department.

What was her name again? Aohara? Aihana?

Well, whatever – it's not like anyone else in his department ever really directly reported to him besides the Co-Section Chiefs and the girl who made his coffee. And the latter was someone whose face or name he didn't even remember.

Naoki pushed the up button of the elevator panel, jerking his two suitcases toward him. Seriously, couldn't this girl from his department have utilized some damn common sense? Undoubtedly, the news about this encounter would spread throughout the company like wildfire and become troublesome somehow. He was sure that a few awkward encounters were definitely in his immediate future.

He almost wished that he'd taken a better look at the girl's face, though, so he'd know who to avoid. The buzz from the alcohol combined with the girl's stupid tendency to keep her back at a 90-degree angle for the majority of the time that they'd talked certainly didn't help.

The elevator's door opened, and he sighed. Why hadn't he bothered to remember her name, at least? He was usually great at that sort of thing. But then again, he was quick to forget information as soon as his brain had classified it useless or annoying. And in this instance, it had been both.

He dragged his bags into the elevator. Suddenly, he realized that he hadn't even looked at the piece of paper that Funatsu had given him. Letting out another sigh, Naoki fingered his pocket for the slip of paper with his room assignment, key code, and roommate's name.

Upon seeing the information on the slip, his eyes widened.

"What the f-!"

The doors rumbled shut.

* * *

"This stop is Nishi-Shinjuku, Pandai Corp." The automated voice said. Snapping out of her reverie, Kotoko got up abruptly and stepped out of the train. She trudged up the stairs and reached the main lobby of the Pandai Corp building. Upon exiting, she approached the huge metal gates surrounding the exit of the station.

Kotoko approached a card reader at the gate, and inserted her company ID into it. Then, the reader flipped over to reveal a black, glossy surface. She placed her palm against it, and the door clicked open. An automated mechanism wiped the palm reader down before flipping again, to reveal the card reader once more.

The security guard nodded at her as she walked by. Usually, Kotoko was able to muster the energy to smile at the stoic man, but she wasn't in the mood today.

Sighing, she climbed up the stairs to the main lobby of the Pandai Building. When approaching the elevators that led to the residential area, she underwent the same process at another security point.

She stood at the elevator labeled "Residential" and pressed the up button. She sighed, seeing that the elevator was making its way down from the 45th floor.

Then, Kotoko recalled that she'd gotten an email about a roommate assignment. She'd been so busy trying to make her deadline that day that she hadn't even bothered to check her company email once that day.

Wearily, she pulled out her phone and scrolled down to the email from the Housing Department.

[ _SUBJECT: New roommate Assignment_

 _BODY:_

 _Dear AIHARA, KOTOKO (ART DEPARTMENT/CREATIVE TEAM), ROOM 2707A, CO-ED FLOOR,_

 _This email is to notify you that a new resident has been assigned for ROOM 2707B. Please expect your new roommate to be moving in within the next 1-3 days._

 _Your new roommate's information is as follows:_

 _Name: IRIE, NAOKI (ART DEPARTMENT/CREATIVE TEAM)_

 _Phone Number: 123-456-7890_

 _Email: naoki . irie at pandai . com_

 _Room assignment: 2707B2_

 _If you have any questions or concerns, please arrange an appointment with our office on the 6_ _th_ _floor._

 _Best,_

 _Megumi Yamamoto_

 _Director of Housing_

 _Pandai Apartments_ ]

Kotoko almost dropped her phone in shock. What the…

The elevator dinged, indicating that it had arrived.

* * *

As he read the name on the slip of paper, something clicked within him.

Kotoko… Aihara.

Kotoko… Aihara?

…

Kotoko Aihara?!

Yes, the name rang a bell. It was definitely the name of someone within his department.

Then, he pried through his memories and struggled to recall the first few lines of the love letter that he'd just dismissed.

"'Hello, Director Irie…'" he muttered, still half-drunk. "Uh… 'I'm…' um… what was it again?" he scratched his head, trudging down the hall.

"Oh yeah. 'I'm Kotoko Aihara, from your department.'"

I'm Kotoko Aihara, from your department.

I'm Kotoko Aihara.

From your department.

Goddammit. Goddammit.

God-fucking-dammit.

This day just couldn't get any worse.

Why? Why was this happening to him?

Letting out a long sigh, Naoki punched in the key code and let himself in. Then he took of his shoes at the entrance, dragged his suitcase into the living room, and immediately held his nose.

What the hell was that stench?

Equal parts annoyed and stunned, he hurried inside-and stood still, stunned.

What.

A.

Fucking.

Mess.

…wasn't even the phrase that could begin to encompass the essence of the apartment that he'd found himself in.

To his right, which was the island counters with three stools lined against it, was stacked with used cup noodle bowls. The garbage can, which hadn't even been lined with a garbage bag, was crammed with plastic spoons, wooden chopsticks, soda cans, take-out containers, and candy wrappers. Letting out an exasperated sigh, he stepped behind the counter to take a look at the kitchen.

Thankfully, the sink seemed empty. However, upon approaching, he saw that it was crammed with cups with dried rings of coffee at the bottom. There was no sponge or dish soap to be seen anywhere, and spoons stained with dried milk littered the bottom of the sink. He paled at the sight.

Shaking his head, he opened the fridge and saw that there was only a sprouted potato, a metal jug filled with yellowing milk and a frother stuck in it (not even covered! Naoki noted, horrified, as he held his nose), and a bottle of hot sauce.

He slammed the fridge door shut and opened the freezer, to see that it was crammed with resealable plastic bags with coffee inside. He saw every kind imaginable – SL28, Colombian, Blue Mountain, Vietnamese Robusta, Ethiopian, Brazilian, all neatly labeled. From what he could see, all of them seemed to be finely ground.

The cabinet yielded a similar sight, except that it was stacked with several different types of cup noodles. There was not a spice container, condiment container, or cooking utensil in sight.

Did this woman live off instant noodles, coffee, and takeout? He shot another glance at the garbage. And how the hell did she take out her garbage without a garbage bag lining the inside of the can?

Rushing past the upholstered chair, coffee table, and the couch in the living room area (which were littered with various articles of clothing), he opened the door leading out to the balcony to let some fresh air in. Though it was still the middle of the summer, there was a strong breeze due to the apartment being on the 20th floor. Naoki breathed in the fresh air deeply, before forcing himself to face the mess of an apartment again.

He approached the room closer to the entrance, since the door of the room across the hall from it was slightly open, and had clothes littering the floor. Rubbing his eyes, he opened the door, and found himself surprised.

Well, this room was probably the neatest room in the entire apartment. But still, the bookshelves were crammed with… what were they? Sketchbooks? Reference material? The desk had sheets of unfinished character designs covering its surface, with markers scattered over its surface. The bed, which was directly on the left of the desk, had piles of painted canvases stacked atop it.

Under normal situations, Naoki Irie probably would have found himself curious and have browsed through the sketches and paintings, quietly noting each work's strengths and weaknesses. He probably could have spent a good two hours in the room, engrossed in everything it had to offer.

But today was no normal day.

With an exasperated sigh, Naoki kicked his suitcases toward the closets near the foot of the bed, and slammed the door shut. Then, he moved the canvases off the bed and placed them on top of the desk.

Then, he rummaged through his suitcase for sleepwear, got changed, folded his pants, and draped his shirt over himself as he tried to get comfortable on the bare mattress.

He'd have to have a long, stiff talk with his roommate.

Tomorrow, though.

* * *

"Chris, this is an emergency!" Kotoko cried, as the elevator remained unmoving, since she hadn't pressed any buttons yet. "Can I come over?"

She could hear Chris slapping something. "Sure, Kotoko. Let me just call the front desk."

Though being friends with Chris was awesome, this was one of the only downsides of being friends with the head pastry chef of Pandissimo – since Chris was considered to be one of the executives at the company due to her being the head pastry chef of the restaurant, she lived on one of the VIP floors. Elevator access to the VIP floors – which were floors 56 to 59 – were restricted for all Pandai Corp employees who did not live there, unless the resident granted them permission.

Thus, the only way to access them then was to have a resident living in the VIP floor call the front desk. Only then would a security officer swipe a key card that activated the VIP Floors Elevator, so it could be used. The fire escape stairs were useless when trying to access these floors as well, since the doors for those floors were inaccessible from the staircase side of the door. Kotoko knew this from experience.

Chris had offered to get Kotoko a copy of the VIP key card multiple times due to the fact that Kotoko visited often, but Kotoko had always refused since the security personnel were familiar enough with her at this point that they knew that she didn't live there. But at times like this, Kotoko found herself regretting it.

"Thanks, Chris." She paused. "And, um… what was that sound just now?"

Chris laughed. "Don't worry, I'm not doing anything dirty with Kin-chan. Well, maybe…"

Just then, Kotoko could hear Kinnosuke's voice in the background. "Hey, idiot, don't misconvey the situation!"

"That's not a real word, Kin-chan!" Kotoko could hear Chris singsong back to him.

"I don't want to hear that from you, foreigner!" she could hear him snapping back.

"You're so shy, Kin-chan…" she cooed. "Oh, sorry, Kotoko. I'll call the front right now. And I'll send Kin-chan back."

"I was about to leave anyway, idiot!" he screeched, in the background. "Bye, Koto-chan!"

Kotoko laughed nervously. "Sorry about that… but thanks. I'll be up there soon."

"No prob!" Chris chirped, before hanging up.

Kotoko walked over to the elevator labeled "Floors 56-59" and waited, trying to figure out how she'd relay this story to Chris. Where would she even begin? She felt her pocket for the yellow pad.

"Ms. Aihara? Ms. Robbins would like to see you." A man, wearing a black suit and dress shirt walked over to her. Pulling out a small key card, he swiped it in front of the elevator panel. The panel made a beep, and the up button for the elevator glowed to life. The man pressed the illuminated button.

Kotoko nodded, and stepped into the elevator. The suited man stepped in after her, and pressed the button for the 59th floor.

The doors closed swiftly, and the elevator shot up into the air.

* * *

After the elevator reached the 59th floor, the man escorted Kotoko to Chris's door. He rang the doorbell. "Ms. Robbins? I've brought Ms. Aihara."

Chris opened the door, and a cloud of flour escaped the room. Alarmed, the suited man stepped back.

"Don't worry, Jun-san, I'm just experimenting with some yeasts." Chris said, smiling. "You sure you can't just give Kotoko a key card?"

The man shook his head. "Sorry, ma'am, but you know the company's policy."

"Ah well, it was worth a shot!" Chris said, scrunching her nose while a silly grin graced her lips.

The man bowed to her before making his way back down the hallway, toward the elevator.

Chris brushed her hands against her apron, causing flour shower down onto the carpet lining the hallway. "Oops… oh well." She turned to Kotoko. "So, what happened?"

Kotoko's eyes filled with tears. "Chris…"

Alarmed, Chris grabbed Kotoko's shoulders. "Come on hon. Come inside."

"Ch… Ch… Chris…" Kotoko began, beginning to hiccup.

Pulling the auburn-haired girl close, Chris slowly pulled her inside of her apartment and shut the door behind them.

* * *

"Where the hell is she?" Keita grumbled, redialing Kotoko's number for what felt like the millionth time, outside the restaurant. It had been hours ago when she'd said that she needed to go to the bathroom. And then she'd disappeared without a trace.

The yellow pad he'd peeked at came to mind. Then, he realized that Director Irie had disappeared mysteriously that night, as well.

"Did they…" Keita muttered, clenching his jaw. Images of the two of them involuntarily flashed in his mind: a drunk Kotoko and Naoki, hailing a cab. The two of them arriving at a love hotel. Kotoko's naked body against the sheets on the mattress as Naoki…

No. They couldn't have.

Kotoko wasn't that type of person.

Letting out an exasperated sigh, Keita dialed her number again.

* * *

Two boxes of used tissues later, Kotoko had finally managed to elicit coherent words from her mouth.

"Ch…Chris… water, please…" she finally rasped out, with much effort.

Chris, who had just pulled a tray of cheese danishes out of her stone oven, placed them on her marble countertop and hurried to grab a cup. Then, using the automatic dispensing option on her refrigerator door, she filled the cup with ice, and then water.

She sat down next to Kotoko on the couch and handed the glass of water over, which was drunk with much gusto. Letting out a satisfied sigh, Kotoko rested her head on Chris's lap.

Chris smiled, and brushed her fingers through Kotoko's hair. "You ready to talk now, Ko-chan?"

Kotoko rubbed at her swollen eyes, and let out a deep sigh. "Yes, I guess." She pulled out the yellow pad from her pocket, and passed it to Chris. Chris began to look at the pad one page at a time.

"Um… Kotoko? Why did you draw the same…"

Kotoko closed her eyes. "It's a flipbook."

"Ah."

She heard Chris flip through the pad about three times, and then felt Chris's lap shift as she laughed.

"So, let me get this straight… you used this to confess to Mr. Irie? From your department?"

Kotoko sighed. "Yeah…"

Chris put the pad down on her coffee table. "Well, it's cute. But judging from your reaction, he…"

"He asked me to act like this never happened, and then left." Kotoko looked at the pad glumly. "I worked on this for 4 days straight, too!"

Chris continued brushing Kotoko's hair with her fingers. "Well, what a cruel man, ignoring your efforts like that. Good thing he's the director of the entire creative branch of Pandai, so you'll barely need to see him, right? A man of his status should have enough things to keep him busy, anyway."

Kotoko sighed. "That's the thing. I'll probably be seeing him every day from now on."

Chris's hand stiffened. "What do you mean?"

Kotoko unlocked her phone to see that she had over 20 missed calls from Keita. He was probably worried, since she'd disappeared from the dinner without a word.

She'd call him back later.

Swiping past the missed call screen, Kotoko opened the email from the Housing Department on her phone, and passed it to Chris. She took the phone, and muttered aloud to herself.

"New roommate… 2707A… NAOKI IRIE?" she almost screamed the last line, causing Kotoko to jerk up, which in turn led to her smacking her nose against her own phone, still in Chris's hand.

"Ow… Chris!"

"Sorry, Kotoko… but…" Chris paled. "Is this real? Are they even allowed to do this? You're man and woman, for god's sake! Unmarried, at that!"

Kotoko nodded, sullenly. "The thing is, the rooms on my floor are all co-ed. They're mostly meant for employees who are transitioning or people who have a friend or relative they want to live with, or something. But when I was hired, only that floor had a vacant room. And I can't exactly commute from Nagoya every day…"

Chris stared at the email, still in shock. "Yes, but… didn't Naoki have any objections to this?"

Kotoko curled into a fetal position. "I don't know… probably. And now, after what happened tonight, it's going to be so awkward between us!"

"You can just live with me, Kotoko! My penthouse suite is more than big enough for-"

"Nah, I couldn't do that to you." Kotoko sat up. "I don't want to ruin the mood between you and Kin-chan when you two get steamy."

Chris blushed. "We don't-"

Kotoko sighed. "I don't know what I'll do when I see him. I'm not exactly thrilled with having to live with a guy who rejected me."

This was partly a lie, though. A part of her had been secretly thrilled. The pain of rejection, still fresh, stung, of course.

But the underlying cause of that pain was her feelings for Naoki, which hadn't had any time to be buried since the incident a couple of hours ago. Though she knew that her chances with him were ridiculously slim, the very fact that the object of her affections for the past two years would now be residing in the same suite as her, using the same bathroom as her, and eating at the same kitchen as her, sent tingles down her spine.

Maybe they'd come to eat meals together? Maybe she'd be able to have an intimate conversation with him on the balcony? Maybe…

"Hello? Earth to Kotoko?" Chris said, snapping Kotoko's phone shut.

Kotoko blinked. "Oh, sorry."

Chris smiled. "Admit it. You're a little excited, aren't you?"

Kotoko refused to meet Chris's eye. "I have no idea what you mean."

Chris's eyes glinted dangerously. "If you're going to be so dishonest, maybe I won't let you sample one of the danishes I made with some special yeast I had flown in."

Kotoko toyed with her fingers, stealing glances at the cooling pan of danishes.

"From France."

Kotoko's eyes widened. Then, she abruptly fell to her knees.

"Please, Chris-sama! Don't do this to me!"

Chris got up, grabbed a sheet of wax paper, and picked up a cheese danish. "I don't know, Kotoko..."

Kotoko crawled over to her. "Please? Please? You can't do this to me!"

"Admit it, then." The golden haired girl smiled smugly.

Kotoko got up, reaching for the danish. "Fine! Fine! I still love him! It's not like I can switch off my feelings in a few hours, you know." Chris willingly held the danish in front of Kotoko, who immediately snatched it up and began scarfing it down.

"See how easy that was?" Chris laughed, beginning to remove the other danishes from the pan.

Kotoko nodded, her mouth still stuffed.

Chris moved gracefully, finishing her cleanup of the kitchen area, as Kotoko happily chewed. Then, she sat down next to Kotoko.

"Are you feeling a bit better now, Ko-chan?" she looked at Kotoko, with a sobering look. "I know heartbreak is hard… I think I'm a master of it, at this point." She let out a sigh.

Then, putting on a bright smile, she faced Kotoko again. "But you know, Kotoko… eating good food and being in good company always lifts my spirits. I hope I was of some help to you."

Kotoko nodded, still chewing, as her eyes began to fill up with tears again. She was so lucky to have friends like Chris.

Chris hugged Kotoko. "Why don't you spend the night here tonight? You don't want to face Mr. Irie with a blotchy face, right?"

Kotoko nodded into Chris's shoulder furiously.

* * *

Kotoko lay on the other side of Chris's huge king-sized bed, wearing a nightgown she'd borrowed from her. Since it was a bit small on her, it hugged her curves a bit uncomfortably. But still, it was comfortable enough.

She took her phone off the nightstand, and opened her texting app.

Choosing Keita as the recipient, she typed:  
 _Hey, Keita. Sorry for disappearing tonight. Something came up. Will explain tmrw. Need to sleep. Gnight._

Almost immediately, her phone rang. And of course, it was Keita calling.

Being careful not to wake Chris, Kotoko slipped out of bed and closed the door as she stepped into Chris's living room.

"Hello?" Kotoko said, her voice somewhat hoarse from all the crying she'd done.

"Kotoko! Goddammit, I was so worried!" Keita yelled. "Where the hell are you?"

Kotoko immediately felt guilty that she'd made him worry so much.

"I…"

"You're not with Director Irie, are you?" Keita said, suddenly quiet.

"W-what?" Kotoko said, shocked. "No! Why would you even think that?"

She could hear Keita sighing over the line.

"He disappeared around the time you did, and it was all I could do to keep Motoko from-"

"Hey… I said… Kikyou…chan… BITCH!" Kotoko could hear Kikyou screaming in the background.

She laughed. "You're with Kikyou-chan?"

Keita sighed again. "Not you, too. But yeah, I'm taking him back to the apartment right now."

"So the staff dinner ended without a hitch?"

"For the most part, yeah. Motoki says that he has something to show you tomorrow, though."

"BASTARD! MOTO! CHAN! I! SAID!" she could hear Kikyou yelling again.

"And I said shut the hell up, or I'm leaving you on the street!" she could hear Keita yelling back.

At that, Kikyou remained silent.

"So, um…" Keita said, slowly. "where are you, then? Home, right?"

"Nope." Kotoko said, sniffing.

"What?! Where-"

"Calm down, Keita!" Kotoko said, giggling. "I'm sleeping over at Chris's place."

"Oh." he finally said, lamely. "Okay then… good night."

"Night!" Kotoko said, and hung up.

She sighed, sinking into Chris's couch. How was she going to explain all of this to Keita?

* * *

Naoki Irie awoke with a throbbing headache. Flinching, he grabbed his head as he checked his wristwatch.

5:30 a.m. Even when he was hung over, his body operated like clockwork. He lay still for a moment, listening to see if he could hear Kotoko moving about.

But then again, a woman who lived like this probably wasn't an early riser. Sneering at the thought, he took his bag of toiletries and headed into the bathroom. He brushed his hair, changed into his athletic wear, and headed for the company gym on the 6th floor with his tennis racket.

* * *

"Good morning, Kotoko!" Chris called, opening her curtains. "Wake up! It's 8!"

Kotoko bolted up. "Oh, crap! I have to get ready for work!" Stumbling to grab her things, she bolted out of Chris's bedroom. "Geez… why didn't you wake me up sooner?"

Chris rolled her eyes. "I've been trying to wake you up since 6 a.m. I had some of my line cooks take care of the prep work today so that I could walk you down for breakfast, but you'll have to run down now and grab a fresh change of clothes if you don't want to be late."

"Dammit!" Kotoko cried, frantically trying to coax her bedhead into something presentable. "Thanks Chris. I'll see you in Pandissimo, okay?"

"Geez, that girl…" Chris shook her head, as her front door slammed shut.

* * *

After having finished his workout at exactly 7 a.m., Naoki headed back to his apartment to shower, brush his teeth, and change. Usually, he would prepare breakfast for himself, but the current state of his shared domicile did not allow for such luxuries. At 8:02 a.m., he readied himself to head out the door, when he heard the door beep open from the other side.

Had this girl not come home all night? Just what kind of girl was she, anyway? Hadn't she just confessed her love for him?

Kotoko barged in, still clad in the nightgown she'd borrowed from Chris. She frantically kicked off her shoes and dashed toward her room, only to hit an obstacle.

Naoki found himself pinned onto the floor, with a suggestively dressed Kotoko atop him. His eyes widened. "What are you-"

Kotoko, realizing what had happened, scrambled off him, murmuring apologies. Her face turned a brilliant shade of red, as she bowed her head.

"I'm sorry, Director…"

Naoki huffed, as he got up and straightened himself up. "What the hell were you doing, running around the building in that kind of outfit?"

Eyes widening, Kotoko placed her hands on her cleavage. "I… I slept over my friend's room, and she didn't…"

Naoki pushed her aside. "I didn't ask for your life story. I'm going now."

Kotoko left her head bowed in embarrassment. Just as Naoki was about to leave, he turned around.

"Oh yeah, bring your lunch to my office today. We need to talk about this situation."

Kotoko nodded, somewhat excited by the prospect of lunch with Naoki. With Director Naoki…

"Oh, but where are you going, sir? It's still so early, and…"

"Breakfast. Since I can't exactly eat in this trash heap. Not that there's any real food here, anyway." He motioned to the counter and the garbage can with a disgusted look, and turned around again.

"Wait, sir! I'll show you the way, since-"

Naoki rolled his eyes. "Are you seriously suggesting that I don't know how to take the elevator down a couple of floors?"

Kotoko winced.

"And just where are you planning to guide me to, in that kind of outfit, anyway?"

Shaking his head, he slammed the door shut behind him.

Kotoko sighed, taking off the nightdress and heading toward the shower. This was already turning out to be a terrible day.

* * *

"So, why'd you disappear out of the blue yesterday, anyway?" Kikyou asked, as he, Keita, and Kotoko walked into Pandissimo together for lunch.

"Ah, um…" Kotoko began.

"What, did you run off with the Director or something?"

Yuuko, who had been listening behind them, shoved past Kotoko. "I'm glad you actually finished something on time, for once, Aihara." She said, with a cold smirk. "Though you never would've been able to, without relying on other people. Again." She sped past them, lining up for lunch.

"Fucking bitch…" Kikyou muttered. "Oh, speaking of the she-devil, I need to show you something!" Kikyou reached to pull out his phone, but Keita shook his head.

"Section Chief Matsumoto is standing pretty close to us on the line, Motoki. She's gonna notice, for sure." He whispered.

"Oh, you killjoy…" Kikyou muttered, putting his phone away. "Don't worry, Kotoko, I'll show you later. So anyway, Kotoko…" he said, turning his attention back toward Kotoko as they moved up in the line. "Where did you go, hmm?"

Kotoko sighed. "Well, the truth is, I confessed to Director Irie yesterday, and…"

"Bitch, you did what?!" Kikyou cried. "Oh my freaking god!" he jumped up and down, slapping her on the shoulder. His eyes glittered. "So… what did pretty boy say?"

Kotoko approached the window, waving hi at Kinnosuke. "He rejected me. Hey, Kinnosuke, can you give me a packed lunch? I have to head back upstairs."

Chris appeared just then, from the depths of the kitchen. "Hey, Kotoko, can you take this up to Director Irie?" she gave her a look. "He asked for delivery, but lunch is the busiest time of the day, so…"

Kinnosuke grabbed the lunch out of Chris's hand. "Like hell, she will! I'm going to bring this up to him myself and give him a piece of my mind!" he yelled. "He rejected you, Kotoko? Who the hell does that cocky bastard think he is?!"

Chris snatched the lunch out of Kinnosuke's hand, placed it on the counter, and quickly placed another one next to it. "Hurry, Kotoko! Take these! I'll take care of him!" Kotoko waved a thanks, and ran off.

"Chris!" Kinnosuke snarled. "Don't-"

"Kinnosuke Ikezawa!" Chris roared back at him. "How dare you talk to your superior like that, during service?" Shocked, Kinnosuke's eyes widened.

Chris had never yelled at him before.

"I'll talk to you later," she said, glaring at him. Turning around swiftly, she headed back into the kitchen. Kinnosuke, dumbfounded, just blinked, still standing in front of an equally shocked Kikyou and Keita.

"Um…" Kikyou began carefully, after a while.

"Sorry, but… uh… are you guys still doing lunch, or what?"

* * *

Kotoko knocked on Director Irie's door with the two lunches, butterflies fluttering in her stomach. This was the first time that the two of them would be alone for such an extended period of time!

"Come in." he said, drily. He was sitting on his couch, in front of his coffee table.

"Um, here…" Kotoko said, offering the slightly mussed bag to Naoki. He frowned.

"Why does mine look like that?"

Kotoko looked upward, trying to figure out how she could explain the situation with Kinnosuke to him, when he sighed.

"Never mind. Just give me yours, since it looks fine."

Reluctantly, she placed her lunch on the table, and took his. He unwrapped it, revealing four rolls of delicately rolled sushi and an immaculate danish.

He gestured for her to sit down in front of him, so she did. She unwrapped her own lunch to see that her own danish had been crushed to bits, and her mangled mess of sushi resembled chirashizushi more than sushi. But, since she was never one to waste food, she shook the container of sushi to mix the ingredients more thoroughly before opening it to eat.

Naoki stared at her. What a weird girl.

Well, whatever.

He looked at her. "Firstly, regarding last night."

Kotoko paled. "Um... yes?"

"Remember what I said. As far as we're concerned, it never happened."

She nodded slowly, not looking up at Naoki. "Of course."

Then, he passed her a sheet of paper, and broke his chopsticks apart. "Here. We need to establish some boundaries if we're going to live together, and this is how I figured that we'd do it."

"But…" Kotoko started, in mid-chew. A grain of rice flew out of her mouth, and onto the sheet of paper. "what for?"

He looked at her disgustedly. "Clearly, you've never lived with another person. Because that dump you call an apartment is no more fitting for humans to live in than Chernobyl."

"What? But I just cleaned last Monday!"

Naoki shook his head. "Just read the damn thing."

Kotoko obliged, putting down her chopsticks to pick up the paper. It read:

" _I, the undersigned, hereby agrees to the following terms and conditions for cohabitation._

 _1\. I will not speak with my roommate, unless absolutely necessary, at the workplace._

 _2._ _I will not reveal my living arrangements to anyone, or anything._

 _3\. I will adhere to a strict schedule regarding cleaning and taking out garbage, as illustrated on page two._

 _4\. I will not ask invasive questions about my roommate's life, personal or otherwise._

 _5\. I will not create a disturbance or create loud noises of any kind after 9 p.m., GMT+9, until 8 a.m., GMT+9._

 _6\. I will clean up after my own messes, immediately after they have been created. This includes, but is not limited to, food wrappers, packaging of any kind, dirty laundry, takeout containers, food stains, and unwashed dishes._

 _7\. I will ask permission before touching my roommate's things. In this instance, the term "things" encompasses all items belonging to a person. This includes, but is not limited to, personal toiletries, clothing, utensils, foodstuff, and appliances._

 _8\. I will not have guests over at my shared domicile without giving my roommate a 24-hour notice in advance._

 _9\. All "things" (definition clarified in clause 7) will not be shared between roommates, unless permission has been granted by the owner in writing. This includes items such as, but is not limited to, toilet paper, toothpaste, groceries, shampoo, cleaning supplies, and dish soap._

 _10\. I will not enter my roommate's room without receiving verbal permission. In a case where a roommate whose room is to be accessed is not currently in the suite, the other roommate may not enter their room under any conditions._

 _11\. The clauses in this contract are subject to amendment, through a discussion involving both roommates._

 _12\. Failure to adhere to the clauses within this article will serve as grounds for eviction._ "

Under the articles, there was a spot for both her and Naoki to sign and to indicate the date. Naoki had already signed above his own name, with the date next to it.

Kotoko put the paper down and picked up her chopsticks. "Why should I sign this?"

Naoki glared at her. "Really? These terms aren't even that harsh, considering your terrible lifestyle."

She felt a dull pain in her heart. It was bad enough that she'd gotten rejected by him the day before… he didn't need to rub salt into the wound.

"Oh, and I want that mess in the kitchen cleaned up. That garbage on the countertop is disgusting! And how could you put garbage in a can that isn't even lined with a plastic bag?"

Kotoko gave a nervous chuckle. "Well, it's usually not that bad… but I've been working overtime lately because of the deadline, so I didn't…"

"That's no excuse for living like a slob. And you do know that you have milk rotting in your fridge, right? You should, since it's about the only thing that's in there. Besides your budding potato farm."

Kotoko brightened. "The potato sprouted?"

Naoki slammed his hand down onto the coffee table. "That's not the point!"

"Yes, sir…" she squeaked, digging into her mangled sushi again.

"Anyway, sign the damned thing. It's my way of saying I'll respect your boundaries, so you need to respect mine. And such."

"Yes… sir…" Kotoko said, putting her chopsticks down to reach for a pen.

"That's all, so you can leave. And stick this contract on the inside of the cabinet at the apartment."

Kotoko sighed. "Anything else, sir?"

"Yeah, actually. Clock out early today. You can go home now."

She frowned. "But Section Chief Matsumoto still needs me to…"

Naoki waved his hand dismissively. "Forget about that. I'll deal with her. I need you to clean your crap out of my room by the time I get home, so you should get a head start." He passed her a box of 13-gallon garbage bags. "And here. I picked this up. Make sure the place looks semi-presentable before I get back."

"Wait, really? I can leave?" Kotoko said, excitedly.

He glared up at her from his lunch. "Don't get any stupid ideas. I swear to god, if that place isn't clean by the time I get back… I'm going to dock your pay for today."

Kotoko stood up abruptly, saluting him. "Sir, yes, sir!" She repackaged her lunch haphazardly, signed her name, grabbed the lunch, and headed for the door.

"Wait, Airhead!" he yelled. Then, he chuckled to himself, in his head. He liked the sound of that. Aihara... Airhead. What a genius he was.

"What is it, sir?" Kotoko turned around quickly.

"Take the damn contract and the garbage bags with you, idiot!"

"Yes, of course, sir!" Kotoko rushed over, grabbed the two items off the table, and headed back out the door. As she exited, she saw Section Chief Sudou walking down the hallway.

"Oy, Aihara!" he smiled, waving. "Did the boss yell at you for screwing up, or something?"

Kotoko laughed. "Something like that. He's making me clock out early today, so I'm leaving now, sir. See you tomorrow!"

Sudou furrowed his brow. "Wait, what? Is everything..."

But Kotoko had already turned the corner.

* * *

Sudou knocked on Naoki's door, and entered.

"Hey, Director…"

Naoki looked up. "Oh, Sudou, good timing. Can you get the regular girl to bring me coffee?"

Sadou looked at him, somewhat confused. "Well, she just told me that you sent her home… remember?"

"Oh… Yeah."

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Hope you enjoyed! And remember, faves and reviews make the heart grow fonder! And writey-er! ;)


	3. In Which Buttons are Pressed

**Author's Note:** Hi everyone! Those of you who reviewed, thanks so much for your kind words about ch. 3!

I replied to my reviews for ch. 1 through PM, but I realized that it wasn't fair to you guest reviewers who give me the same love – so for you guys, I'll be replying through my ANs at the beginning of every chapter! So, here we go (in the order I received them):

lilysmiya: Thank you! Hope you're enjoying the story thus far!

Guest: Thanks! Hope you'll keep enjoying it as the story progresses!

Lantunez: Grazie tanto! (thank god for google translate hahaha)

Guest: Will do, don't worry! ;) Thank you for reading!

Gigi onta: Hahaha, I will, don't worry~ Thanks for reading!

Carsenn: Thank you! Yeah, I figured I'd have more to play with an AU situation. Hope you enjoy the pacing I have going so far! :)

Guest: I will as long as people want it! Hehe. Thank you for reading!

Sayuri: What can I say? I have a way with words. (HAHAH JUST KIDDING!) Honestly, it was the name I remembered her by when I first started watching the anime because I couldn't stand Kotoko's character. I was glad to see her develop since then (though, not as much as I would've liked) throughout the series. Hope you enjoy the next installment! :)

Jelnica: I don't exactly have my updates scheduled for every Tuesday; that was just for last week's update (which, as you can see, didn't quite work out… oops… hehe). But my aim is to update at least once a week, as long as there is maintained interest in the fic. Thank you for your kind comments! Hope you enjoy! ;)

Without further ado, here's chapter 3!

* * *

Chapter 3: In Which Buttons are Pressed

* * *

Something didn't feel right.

Keita clicked through the files on his desktop aimlessly, carefully considering the events of yesterday and today.

Kotoko had left the staff dinner yesterday without a word to anyone. And she had gotten up approximately around the same time that Director Irie had left to go to the bathroom.

Then, she hadn't picked up her phone or responded to his texts all night. And when he finally heard back from her, via text, it had been a succinct one about how she'd fill him in tomorrow.

Well, today was tomorrow, and he hadn't gotten any answers.

He had meant to approach her about the subject in the morning, but Section Chief Matsumoto had been on a semi-rampage. Though most of the work to meet the deadline had already been completed, most of the heavy-duty work was still left to do by the Section Chiefs and the Level Designers. So, even though most of the team had nothing to do, Yuuko ensured that they remained as miserable as she was.

Everyone had feigned productivity in fear that Yuuko would arbitrarily assign them a difficult project, until lunchtime. Keita had been looking forward to hearing about what had happened last night from Kotoko. But then, Kotoko had been forced to bring lunch to Director Irie.

And that was the last that he'd seen of her.

Lunch had ended an hour ago, but Kotoko was nowhere to be seen. She wasn't at her desk, and the girls had mentioned that she hadn't been in the bathrooms, either.

Just what had happened between Kotoko and Director Irie during lunch? Why had he called her to his office?

Keita frowned, recalling the flipbook that Kotoko had made.

Had that idiot handed that over to Director Irie, last night?

Was that the reason why he had called her up to his office – to punish her?

Or… to spend more time with her because he reciprocated her feelings?

He let out a sigh.

Despite what Kotoko thought, Keita was fully aware of Kotoko's feelings toward Director Irie. In fact, being as close as they were – since he was her other best friend, besides Chris – it was impossible not to notice, though Kotoko probably wasn't aware of the fact that he knew. She never brought it up – maybe due to fear that she'd jinx her chances of being with the Director if she vocalized her feelings? – but it was painstakingly clear to him.

Kotoko, who had always loved the sweetness of mocha cappuccinos, began drinking doppio espressos with a touch of foam on top after Director Irie had ordered her to make one for him. She had formed a clumsy excuse to Keita, saying that her tastes had changed, but began eating two digestive cookies with every sip she took of her coffee. And whenever she was called into his office – undoubtedly, for coffee duty – she looked as if she were floating. And whenever he walked into the room to address the entire team about something, she looked as if she'd faint from happiness.

And as much as he didn't want to admit it, she had broken his heart too many times than he could count, without even realizing it.

Keita hadn't always had feelings for Kotoko. When he had started off as a mere part-time intern at Pandai two years ago, he had actually hated the fact that he had to work with Kotoko. She seemed clumsy and slow at all the work that was assigned to her, though she did seem to put some effort into it. However, despite her efforts, any file that reached her seemed to become irreparably mangled. This had especially been an issue for Keita, who had been assigned to work together with her for almost every project.

Working on the computer wasn't her forte, but she could create magic with traditional media. He had witnessed this for himself, firsthand, when the two of them had been asked to finish up some props for a level of a game for the first time.

Keita had been desperate to make a good impression that time, so that he would be offered a job after he graduated. But because of Kotoko's slow pace and constant screw-ups, the two of them had been forced to stay late. And to top it all off, there had been a building-wide blackout just as they were almost finished.

Frustrated and tired, Keita had been just about to give up when Kotoko had gotten up, pulled sheets of paper from the printer, grabbed a pencil case full of colored markers and a pen, and moved toward the window.

He had yelled at her, asking her what the hell she was doing, looking out at the Tokyo night view at a time like this. But upon closer inspection, he realized that she had moved toward the window because it was the only source of light in the entire room. She had finished inking and had begun coloring, all within a span of five minutes.

She had finished their entire assignment within thirty minutes – a feat that usually took them two entire workdays to finish. Smiling sheepishly, saying that they'd probably get yelled at by Section Chief Matsumoto for not digitizing the work, she had placed the completed work on Yuuko's desk. Then, Kotoko had invited Keita to stay the night in her spare bedroom since it had become quite late, and Keita did not yet live in the company dormitories. Because he lived two hours away from the company and the power failure prevented anyone from leaving or entering the Pandai building, he had reluctantly agreed.

Needless to say, he was quite shocked when he entered Kotoko's apartment for the first time. The place had been a goddamn mess. Keita voiced this opinion, asking her how she could live in such a dump. But Kotoko had shrugged it off, and headed into her room.

Just as Keita had finished getting ready for bed, the lights had come back on. And when he entered her spare bedroom, he found him surrounded by Kotoko's work, now all illuminated.

He saw bookshelves crammed with more sketchbooks than he'd ever seen. The desk had piles of reference books, all still opened, with notes on the margins. The bed was stacked with canvases, with paintings of characters from all eras and backgrounds.

He realized then why she lived in such squalor; it was because she dedicated every free moment she had to doing what she loved. And in that moment, he felt something in his heart tug uncomfortably. He hadn't realized it then, but that was the first moment that he'd begun falling for her.

After Keita moved into the company dorms as a semi-full-time employee, heading over to Kotoko's room became a part of his daily routine. Without him, the room would soon de-escalate into a pigsty, and her refrigerator would be severely lacking of any real food. She needed him to keep the room in order, and to cook her some actual meals. Of course, when deadlines were approaching, her apartment reached repulsive levels once more.

Remembering this, Keita let out a sigh. Kotoko's room was surely a mess by now. And despite his nagging, she probably hadn't even lined the damn garbage can with an actual garbage bag.

He'd whip her into shape this time. Really.

He shook his head, smirking. What would Kotoko want for dinner tonight?

* * *

Four trips to the garbage chute later, Kotoko sighed and collapsed onto her couch. Looking up, she checked the time. 2:30 p.m.

Director Irie would be back in two hours and thirty minutes, and she had only finished cleaning the living room.

"Damn it… I should've listened to Keita…" Kotoko muttered, closing her eyes. "Cleaning up a little every day probably would've helped… just a little."

Her eyes traveled toward the contract between her and the Director, and she let out a sigh. "Well, at least he doesn't hate me… right?" She heaved herself up, and began collecting garbage off her kitchen counter in a fresh garbage bag.

"I mean… if he hated me, he wouldn't have even agreed to live with me… right?" Kotoko mused, smiling a bit. "So maybe that means he might like me, just a little?"

Then, she recalled their interaction in the morning. Remembering his expression when he looked at her kitchen, and his tone of voice when he was talking to her, still stung a bit.

She threw the garbage into the bag harder. Goddammit, who the hell did he think he was, anyway, talking to her like that?

But even so…

She sighed again.

He still looked so handsome, even when he scowled.

* * *

"So, how are you settling into your new quarters, sir?" Funatsu asked carefully, setting Naoki's coffee down before him.

He glared up at him. "Are you seriously asking me that? How the hell do you think I'm settling in?"

"Um…"

Naoki stirred the foam into his espresso, and sipped. Scowling, he swallowed it begrudgingly and set down the cup.

"Funatsu, this tastes like cat piss. No, burnt cat piss."

Funatsu sighed, taking the cup from Naoki's desk. "Well, sir, I'm not exactly a barista."

Naoki flipped through his documents a bit more roughly than necessary. "If I knew Kotoko the Airhead was the coffee girl, I would've had her make me a cup before I sent her home."

"Pardon?"

Stretching out against his chair, Naoki tilted his head back as he ran his fingers through his hair. "Apparently, she's my new roommate. And she lives in a goddamn dump."

Funatsu nodded. "Well, if that's an issue, I can ask someone from the maintenance department to do a special cleanup of the room."

Naoki shook his head, closing his eyes. "No, she created the mess. So she's gonna get rid of it."

Just then, there was a thud at Naoki's door. Naoki sat up immediately, and scrambled to his feet. He looked at Funatsu, demanding an explanation with a look.

"Well, sir, you seemed to have an issue with certain… individuals… not knocking. So I rectified the situation by utilizing a simple mechanism in the door."

Naoki chucked softly. "Ah."

Funatsu nodded, and headed toward the door to unlock it. The door whipped open, revealing a livid Yuuko.

"Ms. Matsumoto, I must remind you that one must knock when entering…"

"Shut your goddamn mouth, Funatsu." Yuuko growled, shoving past him. Slamming her hands on Naoki's desk, she glared at him. "Where the hell is Aihara?"

Naoki matched her glare with a cold look of his own. "First of all, you don't have the right to treat my secretary like that. If you're going to continue being this insufferable, I will look into a departmental transfer for you."

Yuuko turned around and sat on his sofa, crossing her arms. "Psh. As if you could find someone capable enough to replace me."

Naoki looked at her, his eyes void of light. "Have you forgotten my skill, Matsumoto? I could do the entire department's job if I had to."

She turned her head away, her arms still crossed, but it was clear that she had lost some of her resolve.

"An… anyway… answer my question."

Naoki shook his head. "No. First, you're going to leave my office. Then, you're going to knock. And when I say, 'come in,' you'll open the door like a person with actual manners, greet Funatsu cordially, and re-word your inquiry in a manner that is suitable for one to speak to their superior."

Yuuko let out an exasperated sigh. "I'm not in the mood for games, Naoki."

"And don't refer to me by my first name. This is your last warning before I file an HR report for insubordination."

Letting out an exasperated cry, Yuuko got up and left, slamming the door behind her.

Then, about a minute later, there was a timid knock at the door.

Naoki smirked.

"Come in."

Yuuko entered, letting out a small sigh. Bowing her head slightly toward Funatsu, she approached Naoki's desk in a careful way.

"Where… is… Miss… Aihara… Director?" Yuuko gritted out, not looking at Naoki.

"Tch. Should've done that from the beginning. It would've saved us time." Naoki spun his chair around to face away from Yuuko.

"I sent her home." He said simply.

"What?! Why the hell-"

Naoki's chair swiveled back to face Yuuko. He raised an eyebrow, daring her to try that again.

"Um… I mean… Why… sir?"

"That isn't your concern. If that's all, you can leave now."

"Ugh!" Yuuko cried, before she stormed out of the office. She slammed the door behind her, causing the blinds to strike the glass on the door.

"Funatsu."

"Yes, sir?"

"You're keeping a record of every time she does that, right?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. When that glass finally breaks, the repairs are coming out of her paycheck."

* * *

The Tokyo afternoon sky was casting an orange glow in Kotoko's living room by the time she had finished taking out the last bag of garbage. All of the garbage had been removed, and all of her things had been taken out of Naoki's room. Now, all that was left to do was to do was some basic scrubbing around the apartment.

However, there was a problem. Due to the sheer amount of sketchbooks and reference books that Kotoko possessed, it was impossible to come up with a way to organize all of them neatly in the living room. The Director wouldn't be happy with this, for certain.

But, it wasn't like she could continue using the bookshelves in Naoki's room. Those rightfully belonged to him, after all. And the bookshelves in her own room had reached their maximum capacity a long time ago. No - those shelves were one dust mite away from collapsing from the sheer weight they were supporting.

Kotoko moistened a paper towel and began to scrub the countertop. Maybe she could take a few shelves from her friends who didn't use their bookshelves?

As she continued to scrub the surface, she mentally evaluated the members of her entourage for their bookshelf-donating potential. Chris and Keita were out of the question, since they had as many books as she did. Kinnosuke probably wasn't the type to use bookshelves, but he had probably repurposed it into a frame for a day bed or something. And Tomoko and Marina used theirs to display their favorite figurines, so that was a no-go.

But maybe…

Kotoko set the wadded-up paper towel aside, and pulled out her phone.

"Moto-chan? Hey, I have a favor…"

* * *

An hour later, Kotoko knocked on the door of Suite 2901, where Motoki and Keita lived.

A bright-eyed Motoki answered the door. "Oh, honey, come in!" he said, pulling her in for a quick hug as he pulled the door closed behind her. He grabbed her hand, sat her down forcefully on his couch, and strode over to his counter to grab a platter with two cups of tea and cookies.

He placed the platter on the coffee table before her, and plopped down next to her. He turned to her, with a dangerous look in his eyes.

"So, spill. From yesterday. Til today. Full deets. Everything. Now." He reached for a cookie, and bit into it daintily.

Kotoko blinked. "Well, I mean…"

Motoki shoved a cookie in her mouth. "No, none of that beating-around-the-bush shit. Just give it to me straight." He reached for his cup of tea, and drank it with the grace of a noble. "What happened?"

Kotoko struggled to swallow the cookie, and took a sip of her own tea. Alas, her own plebian-like sip lacked the decorum that Motoki's had.

"Well, I got an email, from the housing department…" Kotoko began slowly, trying to figure out a way to tell the truth, but not the entire truth.

"Uh-HUH….?" Motoki's eyes widened, as he nodded furiously.

"I got the email earlier in the day yesterday, but I was too busy with my deadline-" she continued, only to be interrupted by Motoki.

"Skip to the goddamn chase, woman!" he cried, almost slamming his teacup down onto the coffee table.

"Okay, okay! So basically, I got a new roommate."

Motoki's excitement visibly deflated. "Oh. That's it?"

Then, he perked up again. "But what about that meeting with Director Irie today, huh? What was that all about?" his eyes shone. "Ah… I wish I had a chance to have a one-on-one lunch with him…"

Kotoko scoffed. "Yeah, I would've been happy to trade places with you."

Motoki's expression turned into one of worry. "Wait, was it not good? Did he reprimand you for something?"

Kotoko sighed before taking another sip of her tea. "Something like that."

He slid closer to her. "So what happened, exactly?"

She picked up a cookie, broke it in half, and rolled her eyes as she took a bite. "The lunch that Kinnosuke had been holding got all messed up, because he was getting so worked up… remember that? Anyway, I accidentally handed that to the Director, and he demanded that I trade with him." She let out a derisive noise. "What, is a slightly-mussed lunch not good enough to be bestowed the honor of touching his lips?"

Motoki laughed. "Of course not, silly. How could you even consider giving Irie-sama less than the best? That's your fault."

Kotoko scowled. "Gee, thanks, friend."

"Just keeping it real, hun." Motoki took another sip of his tea. "So wait, what did you guys talk about?"

"Um…" Kotoko said, as the clauses of the contract boomed in her head. "He wasn't satisfied… um… with something I did. So he yelled at me."

Yeah. That wasn't a complete truth, but it wasn't a lie. Moto-chan was free to interpret that as he pleased.

"Wow… it was bad enough that he sent you home over it?" Motoki said, raising his eyebrows. "Bummer."

"Tell me about it." Kotoko sighed. "Oh yeah, where's Keita?"

Motoki shrugged. "He was still in the office when I left, so I'm guessing that he had some work left to do. You know how he is when he's 'in the zone' and all. Since you get that way, too."

Kotoko frowned. "That's weird. He and I finished the work for our deadline yesterday."

"Well, the Hellcat was on a rampage today because she was pissed about you being sent home early. So maybe she assigned Keita some other work to take out her frustration?" Kotoko, whose mouth was full of cookie bits, sighed.

"Ew, bitch! Not on my carpet!" Motoko shrieked. "You better pick those crumbs up!"

Kotoko slapped him on the knee playfully. "All right, already!" She reached for a napkin, and began reaching for the crumbs on the floor.

"Wait, so your bookcases… I can have both of them, right?"

Motoki nodded, as he finished off the last of his tea. "Yeah. But I'm not helping you carry them down. I don't want to break a nail. Also, they're still in the box that they came in, so you'll have to ask Keita to put it together for you." He shot her a Cheshire grin.

Kotoko shook her head, dusting off her hands. "Nah. I feel bad enough that he's probably working overtime because of me right now." Kotoko rose, bringing the collected crumbs to Motoki's wastebasket. "I'll just ask one of the maintenance guys for a couple of tools." She turned to leave, but was stopped by Motoki.

"No, no, no, no. You're not leaving yet." He said, dragging her back to the couch.

"Huh?"

"Not until you see this solid piece of blackmail I snagged last night." Motoki smiled devilishly.

Kotoko's eyes glittered. "Oh?"

* * *

Naoki opened the door to Suite 2707, with bated breath. To his relief, the only scent that reached his nose was the faint lemony smell of a cleaning product. Letting out a relieved sigh, he grabbed the bags of groceries he'd put on the floor to punch in the keycode, and let himself in.

Putting the bags onto the counter, he looked around slowly. Then, with a finger, he wiped at the surface of the counter and held it up to his eye.

Acceptable, he supposed. For an airhead.

He walked into his room, and was pleasantly surprised to see that it was now empty. Gone were the canvases on the bed, and the mess on the desk. The room looked as if it hadn't been lived in for a single day. And his two suitcases were lined up neatly, against the bed.

He gave a curt nod, in approval. At least she was capable of getting something done. Placing his bag on his chair, he removed his suit jacket and hung it up on one of the empty hangers. Then, he headed into the living room.

He inspected every surface meticulously, crouching down to ensure absolute cleanliness. Everything seemed okay…

…except the mess that she'd left in the corner of the living room.

Naoki sighed. He knew there had to be a catch. Walking over briskly, he examined the pile. Upon a closer inspection, he realized that these had all once been in his room. There were piles of sketchbooks, reference books, and canvases. And thrown unceremoniously on top of them were markers, pens, and pencils of all shapes and colors. He grabbed the sketchpad near the top of the pile, causing some supplies to fall to the floor, and sat down on the couch.

On the left side of each page were notes about the character, as well as some preliminary sketches in pencil. On the right side of each page was the same character, in various poses and times of day. He silently praised her. These were quite good – no, great, actually. The colors that she'd chosen for each character were suitable, and each character's clothing was accurate to the setting that they belonged to. Grabbing a thin pencil, he made his own notes next to her character designs.

Maybe the company hadn't quite screwed up when they hired her, after all.

Approaching one of the last few pages, something that caught his eye made him smirk. In pink, the words "Mrs. Naoki Irie" were scribbled along the margin, next to the character notes. It seemed that she hadn't quite been paying attention to how hard she'd been pressing the marker into the paper either, as it had bled over to the next page.

What an idiot.

Getting up, he grabbed two more of her sketchbooks before placing the first one back onto the pile, when he heard the door unlock. He opened his mouth to speak, but his words died in his throat.

"Hey, Kotoko! You in here? I brought you dinner!" From a glimpse, he could see that there was a familiar-looking long-haired man entering the room.

Keita Kamogari? Why the fuck was he here?

Naoki quickly scrambled to his knees and quietly crawled toward the open balcony door, with her two sketchbooks still in his hand. Then, just as Keita entered, Naoki slipped onto the balcony and hid behind a walled area just next to the door. He sat down, pulling his knees close to his chest.

"Hey, Kotoko!" Naoki could hear Keita's voice getting closer. "You here?" Then, he heard a door opening. "Are you in your stu… guess not."

Then, Naoki heard Keita sitting on the couch. "Where'd she go?"

Goddammit. Why did Kamogari have the keycode to the suite? Was Kotoko a looser woman than he'd judged her to be? Why would she give out the keycode to other men, and then go off confessing her love to him?

What a weird woman.

Just then, he heard the front door unlocking once more. He heard something dragging along the floor, and a huge sigh. A feminine sigh.

"Hey!" he heard Kotoko saying. "What's up, Keita? I was actually looking for you!"

He heard Keita laughing. "Funny, since that's why I came here! Are those yours?"

Naoki peeked over, and saw that Keita was indicating to the groceries that Naoki had bought. Kotoko shook her head no.

"No… I guess it's my new roommate's. I wonder where he—er, they, went."

Naoki silently hit his head against his knees.

Smooth, Kotoko. Reeeeal smooth.

"Oh yeah," Keita said. "the new roommate. How are they, anyway? And who are they? Do I know them? It's not a man, is it?"

Kotoko let out a forced laugh. "O-of course not, Keita! Sheesh, don't worry so much." Naoki could hear his groceries being moved, and the refrigerator door being opened. "And they're not in the Art Department, so you probably don't know them."

"Yeah, probably not. Well, how is she, so far?" There was a pause. "Judging from how this place looks, I bet she's a real neat freak, unlike you."

He heard a light slap. "No, I cleaned this up! Though that bit is true."

"Wow, she must be quite a character to get a slob like you to clean up after yourself."

"Tch. You can say that again." Naoki heard the refrigerator doors shut.

What did she say? Oh, she was going to pay.

Later, though.

"Anyway, I brought over your favorite: donburi, from Yukihira's. Let's have some dinner."

Naoki peeked out again. Damn, he loved Yukihira's. At least the girl had some taste.

"Aw, really? Thanks, Keita!" Kotoko gave Keita a quick squeeze, and Naoki saw that Keita was blushing from the interaction. The girl, on the other hand, was too engrossed in her dinner to pay attention to the reaction.

The two of them sat at the coffee table, watching TV and chatting as they ate their dinner. But Keita often stole glances at Kotoko, before turning his attention back to his meal.

Naoki smirked.

Ah, so that's how it was.

* * *

It was 7:30 p.m. when the two of them had finished dinner, and their conversation had dwindled down.

"Oh yeah," Keita said, leaning his head against Kotoko's shoulder. "So, what's up with those boxes you brought in?"

Kotoko leaned her head on top of Keita's, sighing in satisfaction. "Oh, they're just bookshelves, from Moto-chan. I needed them to re-organize my stuff and he never used his, so…"

Keita, whose face was slightly pink, got up. "Do you need help putting it together?"

Naoki hit his head against his knees, still on the balcony. No, you idiot. Go home already, goddammit! He had looked over both of Kotoko's sketchbooks already by this point, and his legs were getting cramped. And he was hungry. And tired.

"No, it's okay." Naoki heard Kotoko say.

Ugh, thank god.

"I have a new character I want to flesh out, so I'm going to try and put the bookshelf together tomorrow or this weekend instead."

Yes, please. Jesus, Buddha, Shiva, please. I'll even put it together for her if Kamogari leaves, already…

"Oh, okay. Well, let me know if you need any help." He heard Keita say, with a bit of disappointment.

Yes!

"I'm going to get started now, so you should head back." He heard Kotoko say.

Yes, good girl.

"Okay. Well, then, see you tomorrow."

"Thanks so much for dinner, Keita!" Naoki peeked over, and saw that Kotoko had given him another hug.

Naoki snickered. At this rate, Kamogari would have a heart attack.

"No problem, Ko-chan. See you tomorrow!"

"Bye!"

He heard the door close. Naoki counted to ten slowly, ensuring that Keita was gone, and then sprung up.

"Finally!" he cried, entering the living room. Kotoko dropped the take-out containers in shock.

"Were… were you…"

Naoki nodded, shoving past her. "Yes, you idiot!" He opened the refrigerator, and saw that his groceries had been haphazardly shoved in, with all of the items still in the bags he'd carried them in.

"And why would you put ice cream," he yelled, pulling it out, "in the goddamn refrigerator?!"

"I'm sorry!" she squeaked, running into her room and closing the door after her.

Letting out a deep exhale, Naoki opened the freezer, shifted some of the coffee grinds aside, and nestled his soupy vanilla ice cream inside. After he had satisfactorily reorganized the items in the refrigerator, he tied the plastic bags into a braid, and stored them in the cabinet below the sink. Then, reaching for the kitchenware that he had also purchased – which was now cool to the touch, courtesy of Kotoko – he began preparing dinner for himself.

* * *

Kotoko screamed into her pillow. This living arrangement was just getting from bad to worse. How many times had she made a fool out of herself in front of the Director, already?

He probably hated her at this point.

She hugged her pillow to her chest, and felt her eyes prickling.

If only she hadn't confessed her stupid feelings to him. Then, maybe he would hate her less. If she was as glamorous as Section Chief Yuuko, he probably wouldn't have minded their living situation at all.

But alas, she was Kotoko Aihara, grade-A screwball. The antithesis of glamour.

Rolling over onto her back, she let out a deep sigh. She had decided from the moment that she'd left the staff dinner after her rejection that she'd try her best to forget about her feelings for Director Irie. It wasn't like she'd have to try too hard to avoid him, either, since none of the staff members saw him regularly except the Section Chiefs. She had planned on using their distance as her main weapon, to gently erase traces of the love that she'd cultivated in her heart for two years.

But that was no longer an option at this point. How was she supposed to avoid seeing him, when his room was three feet away from hers?

She rolled over again, and sighed deeply into her pillow, when she heard a knock at her door.

"Kotoko? We need to talk."

Kotoko shot up from her bed. How was she going to see him, with her makeup running down her face?

Wait. Kotoko? No suffix?

When had he decided that it was okay to be so familiar with her?

She grabbed a tissue. "Hold on!" she called, wiping her eyes off as best as she could. Straightening out her skirt and blouse, she checked her face in the mirror.

And sighed.

It'd have to do.

She opened her door, to reveal Naoki as she'd never seen him before. His hair was wet – probably from having taken a shower – and he was dressed in shorts and a black v-neck. Both were form-fitting, and served to show off his athletic body quite well. Her eyes widened.

Without another word, he turned around and headed toward the living room. She followed him, and sat down on the floor across from him when he took a seat on the couch.

"This incident with Kamogari…" he began, testily.

"I'm sorry!" Kotoko cried, bowing her head. "He's one of my best friends, so he pops in all the time. So does Chris, since she brings me dinner a lot, and-"

"Stop." Naoki interrupted, coldly. "You know, you have quite a habit of telling me information I never asked for."

Kotoko nodded sullenly.

"Anyway, what I was trying to say was… this incident that happened with Kamogari can never happen again. Recall this?" Naoki held up the roommate contract, which had been on the coffee table. "Thanks for remembering to tape it up on the inside of the cabinet door like I asked, by the way." His voice dripped with sarcasm.

He pointed at the piece of paper. "Nobody can know that we live together. That includes your friends, best or otherwise." He picked up a pen. "That's why…" he said, as he wrote, "I'm adding an amendment."

He handed it over to her. "Initial next to it."

In Naoki's perfect penmanship, the amendment read:

" _I will not tell the keycode of my shared domicile to any person. Each roommate may choose two people to make an exception for, while adhering to these rules:_

 _a. the person may be a family member, OR_

 _b. the person must be of the same gender as the distributing roommate._ "

Kotoko sighed. If this would make her life with the Director easier, she'd agree to it. He had some rights to his privacy, too, after all.

"Oh, and if you're going to tell the keycode to other people, write their full name, your relationship, their email address, and their cellphone number below." He took the paper, wrote something, and passed it back to her. "Like this."

The new writing he'd added read:

 _[Hayao Funatsu – Secretary_

 _at pandai . com_

 _XXX-XXX-XXXX]_

Kotoko nodded, and scribbled in her initials and Chris's contact information before passing the paper back to her.

Naoki peered at her paper. "Wait. But this person works here. What if she finds out about our living arrangement?"

Kotoko pointed at Naoki's contact. "Well, so does this guy, since he has a Pandai email address."

Naoki scoffed. "Well, he knows about our living arrangements already."

Kotoko glared at Naoki. "What happened to abiding by the rules? You're the one who was so adamant about them!"

Naoki snatched the paper from the table, and stood up. "Well, it couldn't be helped, since he was the one who arranged this!" he yelled, gesturing to the room.

She got up, meeting Naoki's gaze. "Well, I told her before I signed your damn contract, and she's not the type to blab!" she gritted out.

Naoki slammed the paper down onto the coffee table. "How the hell do you know?"

"Well, what makes this Funatsu guy so trustworthy, over my best friend, huh?"

He rolled his eyes. "Please. Don't compare Funatsu to some weak, capricious social construct like that. He-"

Naoki didn't have a chance to finish, because Kotoko had slapped him across the face. She glared at him, tears in her eyes.

"What the hell-" he began, but Kotoko cut him off.

"What the hell do you know about me, or my friends? You've been treating me like shit since this whole thing began, and frankly, I'm tired of it. We're only roommates, and you act like somehow you're so much better than me."

Kotoko threw the pen at Naoki. "Just because you're my superior doesn't make you better than me, or my friends!" she screamed. "And it doesn't give you license to treat me like… like some piece of human trash!"

She snatched the contract off the table, and walked toward the shelf in the kitchen for some tape. Then, she opened a cabinet door and taped the contact onto the inside of the door.

"There, happy? Here's your damn contract." She muttered. Then, she walked back into the living room and met the stunned Naoki's gaze.

"I know you hate me already, so let's just stay out of each other's way… okay, Director?" Kotoko said shakily, her eyes filling with tears. Not waiting for his response, she headed into her room and locked the door behind her.

Then, her legs gave way and she crumbled to the floor.

"What the hell… did I just do?"

* * *

 **Author's note** : As you may be able to tell, Kotoko is a bit more audacious than the one from the original series. But I've always wanted her to stand up for herself more, hence my writing her this way.

But of course, Kotoko wouldn't be Kotoko without her Kotoko-isms, so tune into the next chapter to see what happens next!

Maybe I'll update next week, but I'll see… it depends on your feedback, since I feel like interest is waning a bit already. So we'll see!


	4. In Which Paradigms are Slightly Shifted

A/N: Sorry for the delay, everyone! And thank you so much for all your lovely reviews!

I've been really busy traveling due to work and just got back into the country today, so I haven't really had time to write. But still, I didn't want to let Valentine's Day go by without an update, so I whipped this up for you! Hopefully my next update won't be so long behind! Also, some things happen in this chapter that caused me to have to bump the rating up - but don't worry, I'll only be posting really explicit things on my AO3 account (under the same penname, PearHoliday).

Some of you might also notice that this chapter is shorter than others; I think it's easier to digest with shorter chapters, so I've been cutting down a bit, especially with all of the background info already having been established in the first three chapters. From now on, it'll mostly be purely plot instead of world-building!

And as always, **thank you so much for all of your lovely reviews and kudos**! They're the only thing that's keeping me going! (heart)

. . .

Chapter 4: In Which Paradigms are Slowly Shifted

It was 4:25 a.m., and Kotoko still couldn't fall asleep.

She'd tried texting Chris about the situation, as she was the only one she could turn to due to the stipulations of the contract. But judging from the lack of response from the British baker, it was clear that Kin-chan and her were engaging in some make-up sex after what had happened in the kitchen that afternoon.

And she could already imagine what Keita's reaction would be, besides his obvious shock and potential anger toward her living situation: "Whatever, that asshole deserved it. Stop worrying and go to bed."

And she tried. She really did. Her bed, now a pile of twisted sheets, and her floor now littered with pillows was a testament to that.

She rolled over to her side, toying with the cord of her bedside lamp. "Goddammit… How could I hit him? What if he sues me? Or never talks to me again?" She muttered. Then, she rolled over again, forcing another pillow off the bed.

"Well, why should I apologize? It's not like I said anything that was untrue. He was being an ass. He doesn't even know me."

She rolled over once more, squeezing her eyes shut. "But still, he's my boss… what do I do?"

With a frustrated sigh, Kotoko got up from the bed and headed for the bathroom. She knew she wouldn't be getting any sleep anyway, so she'd just start her day extra early instead. Maybe a nice bath could help her de-stress and wring some anxiety out of her before work.

* * *

The entire apartment was eerily silent when Naoki had finished getting ready for the day, at 7:32 a.m.

Had she run away from directly confronting him, after what happened last night? Well, it didn't matter. After all, being on good terms wasn't important. All he needed was acceptable abode to stay in until his financial situation was straightened out. And since the contract had been signed by Ms. Aihara the day prior, there were no other pressing issues to attend to.

And as far as he was concerned, things were better this way. Everything about Kotoko Airhead was displeasing to Naoki, from her slovenly state of living to the fact that she harbored feelings for him.

That was another thing that bothered him - she apparently liked him, but struck him with the same hand that had handed him her confession of love. How utterly ironic. Clearly, the girl had issues that she needed to sort out. On her own.

Naoki fixed his tie one last time before heading out the door, when a mug at the kitchen counter caught his attention. Upon closer examination, he realized that it was coffee. A doppio, with the milk stirred. Just the way he always asked for it. However, there wasn't any steam arising from the surface of the cup, indicative of the fact that it had been made quite a while ago.

He narrowed his eyes. "Does she think that she can excuse senseless violence with a damn cup of coffee?" He snatched the cup off the counter, poured it into the sink, and then tossed the mug in behind it.

Almost immediately, a sense of guilt gripped him. And it wasn't because it felt bad, really. It's just that there was no good excuse for wasted coffee.

He walked back to the sink, washed the mug, and set it on a rack to dry before leaving.

* * *

The office was quiet and dark, with the only source of light being the peeks of sunshine from the sunrise - as it should have been, as it was still only 7 a.m. Kotoko quite enjoyed the serenity of being alone. The fact that this space, usually so bustling with activity, was silent, almost made it feel as if this space belonged only to her in that very moment.

Kotoko looked up from her computer screen, and turned to face the window. It did feel rewarding to be awake early enough to see the sunrise. Rising from her seat, she stretched her limbs and made her way toward the windows.

Though she was able to see a similar view from her balcony on the 27th floor, her office was on the 53rd floor and thus offered a better view of Tokyo. She let out a sigh, as she saw the city awaken slowly below her. The streets were just beginning to become crowded with students on their way to school, and professionals commuting to work. Shops and stalls were beginning to set up for the crowds of shoppers that would soon be flooding their establishments.

"Oi, Kotoko!"

She turned around, as the lights in the office turned on. She saw Keita standing near the entrance of the office, with something in his hands. It smelled like coffee, and… maple syrup?

He smiled, as he walked toward his desk. "Good morning! Why are you sitting in the dark?"

She walked back to her desk, and sat down at her seat. "Well, technically, I was standing."

"Whatever. What are you working on that's so urgent that Bedhead Kotoko would be in so early?" Keita quipped, taking off his bag.

"More importantly, what do you have over there?" Kotoko peeked over to Keita's desk, where he had set down two cups of coffee and two breakfast platters.

He laughed. "I guess nothing escapes your nose… they're two breakfast sets from the cafe."

Kotoko reached over to grab one, but then stopped. Raising her eyebrows, she gave Keita a look. "What do you need this time?"

Keita leaned down to meet her gaze, and flashed his most charming smile. "It's finals season… you know what that means!"

She sighed. Unfortunately, she knew very well what that entailed. Though Keita was a stellar student, the fact that he worked full-time hours at Pandai meant that he had to cut classes every so often. And often times, the classes he chose to skip were the ones related to history. Of course, the fact that he chose these very classes to skip often had something to do with the fact that he knew that Kotoko was an expert in all things related to history, especially art history and fashion history.

Kotoko nodded begrudgingly. "Thank god it's your last semester at school… but you owe me two dinners for every all nighter you put me through."

Keita kissed the top of her head. "Sure, sure." He handed Kotoko her mocha cappuccino and her breakfast platter, and watched her fondly as she devoured the contents of the package with the grace of a rhinoceros.

* * *

To Kotoko's pleasure, the day seemed to fly by, despite the fact that it was a Friday. A new assignment had come into their team, which meant that she'd been too busy to mull over the awkward situation between herself and Naoki. Even Yuuko had only managed to yell at the team only three times that day, as she'd been as bogged down by the workload as everyone else. And of course, she'd insisted on delivering Naoki's coffee to him as usual, which meant that Kotoko didn't have to see him once the entire day.

The team started trickling out of the office around 6:15 p.m., when they'd finished up their assignments. Kotoko, however, was as slow as ever when it came to working on the computer. When the last change had been made onto the file and it had been sent to Sado for approval at 7:30 p.m., she leaned back in her chair and let out a sigh. "Freedom!" she yelled (in her mind, as Yuuko was still at her desk) stretching her arms.

Keita walked toward his desk, holding two cups of coffee. "Here." he said, handing her a cup. Kotoko smiled gratefully up at him.

"So… about our dinner date..." Keita began, as he held up his "History of English Fashion" textbook.

Kotoko nodded, turning back toward her computer to shut it down. "Where are we going?"

"Well, it's not quite Pandissimo, but it's pretty close..." Keita said, holding up a coupon for a two-for-one deal.

She rolled her eyes. "We're not going to McDonald's again."

He laughed. "Just kidding. How about we get something quick at Yukihira's, and then study at my place? Motoki's on a date tonight so he probably won't be back until really late."

"Sure, but what about dessert-"

Yuuko stood up. "If you two could take your damn flirting elsewhere, it'd be su-freaking-perb." She snapped.

Keita and Kotoko exchanged looks, before quickly filing out of the office.

* * *

"Still no sign of my mother backing down?" Naoki sighed, as he closed his laptop. He glanced at his watch. 7:30 p.m.

"No, sir." Funatsu said, not looking up from his paperwork. "And I'm sure that she never plans to, so you'll be at an impasse until you figure out another way to appease her."

"Fuck." He muttered, filing his paperwork away into his drawers. "Seriously, I can't live like this much longer, Funatsu."

"Roommate problems, sir?" Funatsu replied, a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Don't even get me started." Naoki let out another sigh, as he packed his briefcase. "Not only is this chick a total slob, she slapped me last night!"

"Do I need to contact your lawyer, sir?"

Naoki rolled his eyes. "No, Funatsu. I'm sure she only has half-empty instant ramen cups to her name, anyway." He grabbed his suit jacket, and dusted off his pants. "And I have a 8 o' clock with Matsumoto, right?"

"Yes, sir. Please confirm the code word you'll be texting me when you need an 'emergency call' to come in." Funatsu said, getting up and reaching for his own suitcase.

"The same as usual."

"Very good, sir." Funatsu closed the door, as he followed Naoki out of his office, and ensured that it was locked.

When Naoki walked into the cubicled area of the office, he noticed to his relief that the only person left was Yuuko. Not that people like Airhead were influential enough to make him feel any certain way. Of course not.

"Ready for our date?" Yuuko said, her voice dropping to a sultry octave.

"Can you pretend that you have an ounce of professionalism about you?" Naoki snapped, as he walked past her toward the elevator.

Yuuko sighed, collecting her things off of her desk, before constructing another perfect smile on her face. "Hey, wait for me!"

* * *

Yukihira's was a small, no-frills eatery with a traditionally Japanese interior. The walls and floor were made of hardwood, and there was a standing-only counter that only catered to 15 patrons at once. The walls were covered with long strips of paper advertising menu items and their prices in an elegant script, as well as a few faded movie posters. Everything was self-service, including the water and utensils, which was on another counter adjacent to the main counter. The menu also changed a bit with the season, which ensured that diners would have a unique experience almost every single time they visited. And there was a ticket machine dispensing meal stubs near the beginning of the queue, so that patrons could pay for their meal before entering.

Despite the low-key feel of the restaurant, the small local eatery was always buzzing with the sound of the evening patron's conversations, with the kitchen staff occasionally yelling out orders that were ready to be served or carried out. Most importantly, the place had a nostalgic vibe and served arguably the best Japanese comfort food in this part of Tokyo, resulting in a long line outside of the door every night.

Kotoko took a long sip of the udon noodle's broth, lifting the bowl to her face to do so. After finishing, she set the bowl down on the counter and let out a satisfied sigh.

"Freaking delicious." Kotoko chirped happily, reaching for her glass of water.

Keita drained his own bowl of soup, and nodded. "Yukihira-san, this broth is spectacular."

The chef, who was a tall middle-aged guy with a fit physique, grinned. "Damn good to hear it. Now hurry and get out of here so I can get some other people seated." He winked at the two of them, before collecting their bowls.

Kotoko laughed. "We'll be back tomorrow, Yukihira-san!"

"It's a date, hon!" he called, ushering two guests in from the front of the queue.

As the two of them walked out, Kotoko caught a sight of a familiar line near the middle of the queue - and quickly turned her head the other way?

Keita looked at her, puzzled. "What's wrong, Ko…" he began, turning his head in the direction that Kotoko had been looking just a moment. Then, he saw Director Irie and Section Chief Matsumoto, the latter who was trying to cling onto the former's arm.

Naoki's terse stare met Keita's for all of two seconds, before Keita turned away to face Kotoko.

"Hah, what an odd couple... " Keita joked, linking arms with Kotoko. "Maybe they finally got together? They say that birds of a feather flock together, after all."

Kotoko only nodded, looking down. Noticing her deflated attitude, Keita held her closer. "Come on, let's get you some dessert."

Kotoko brightened a bit, looking up at him. "A parfait-and-three-pastry-combo counts as one dessert, right?"

He groaned. "How the hell do you manage to squeeze all that food into your tiny body?"

* * *

Naoki saw Kotoko and Keita laughing together, frowning. Since when were they so close that they were on linking-arms-in-public terms? Were they dating? Then why the hell had that Airhead confessed to him in the first place?

No, she probably didn't have any feelings for him. She had the hots for him, _the_ Naoki Irie, after all. And he trumped that lousy intern in every single way, from pedigree to skill.

He stopped his train of thought. Why the hell was he getting so bothered about this, anyway? It wasn't as if that woman meant anything to him. Hell, she had been nothing but a nuisance to him during the entire time he'd been aware of her existence!

But still, if she was going to be so wishy-washy, she shouldn't have confessed her ardent feelings for him in the first place!

"Tch." Yuuko said, rolling her eyes. "As if I didn't see enough of those idiots during work."

Naoki turned to her. "Who?"

"Fucking Aihara and her slave."

"Her… slave?"

Yuuko pointed at Keita with a perfectly manicured nail. "Kamogari, I mean. Everyone and their mom knows that he's crazy about her."

Naoki nodded. "So… the two are dating, I presume?"

"No. He hasn't made any moves… yet. What a wuss." Yuuko twisted a strand of hair around her finger. "And Aihara is an idiot for not noticing. Her IQ is in the one-digit range, I swear. And even that's being generous."

"It seems that you seem to harbor quite a deep distaste for those two." Naoki said carefully.

"I don't really care about Kamogari. He's productive enough, and it's clear from the fact that he already has a full-time opportunity here lined up that he's valuable." She let out a derisive noise. "But Aihara… she just got this job purely through her connections. Don't know what exactly she did for those connections, but I'll bet that it wasn't exactly something that she was proud of."

Naoki raised an eyebrow. "How do you know?"

"I mean, look how damn slowly she works. That should be indicative of that enough. But also, I was there when the CEO was talking about her with another director. Said that he knew a girl who he was looking for a spot for, here at the company. Lo and behold, she was here the next day, with not a line on her resume or a reference to her name." She shook her head. "Seriously, some people, like me, went through a grueling, intensive interview process to work for this company. And I had to stack up tons of specs just to make sure that my resume wouldn't be tossed into the shredder. Who the hell does she think she is, anyway? She's just caused more trouble for us since she started working here."

Naoki gave Yuuko a stern look. "I respect the fact that you got your job through hard work, but don't think Aihara is completely useless. Our department's productivity has gone up in the past two years, and I've seen Aihara's work myself. It may be true that she works slowly, but she's quite good when it comes to working with traditional mediums. She also has a deep understanding of fashion history, which-"

"With all due respect, _Irie-san..._ " Yuuko cut in, loading sarcasm onto the last bit, "how the hell would you know that?"

He opened his mouth to say that he'd seen many of her sketchbooks himself, and then realized the obvious problem with this. Most people at his position only got glimpses of their employees' official portfolios, at best, so how would he ever have had an opportunity to do a full-on sketchbook review of _several_ of her sketchbooks?

"I was a part of the discussion when she was being hired," he lied. "I've seen some of her sketchbooks."

Yuuko gave him a suspicious look, and then continued. "Well, enough about that boring nonsense. So, the other day, Sado-sempai was totally ogling me..."

Naoki sighed and drowned out Yuuko's voice, as he mentally counted down the minutes until the dinner would finally be over.

* * *

It had started as an innocent bet - that Keita would not be able to cram at least half the textbook's contents in a single night. Kotoko had sworn that he couldn't do it, while Keita insisted that he could. So, the two friends decided to settle this dispute in the best way they knew how: with alcohol.

Half-empty liquor bottles were lined up on Keita's coffee table, directly in front of the couch. Keita and Kotoko sat on both ends of the couch, facing each other, each with a shot glass in hand.

"Okay... how… hic! About this one?" Kotoko said, looking down at Keita's history book. "Fuuuurst quarter... of 19th century, England..." she slurred. "Empire-waisted dresses, with low-cut necklines. Bonnets and gloves were in vogue, too."

"Um..." Keita furrowed his brow. "I… uh… Victorian?" he said, squeezing his eyes shut.

Kotoko slammed his book shut gleefully. "Nope! Regency! Take a shot!"

Keita groaned but obliged her, as he leaned over to the coffee table. "Which one?"

"Grey goose!" She said, unsteadily reaching for the bottle herself. She poured the shot but her arm wobbled a bit, causing a bit of the liquor to spill onto the couch.

"Shit… Motoki is going to give me hell for that..." Keita murmured, as he took the shot. "Ugh!"

Kotoko laughed. "You're thinking about Kikyou at a time like this, when you're supposed to be hard at work and studying?" She put her shot glass down on the coffee table. "Mmkay… no… more. Everything's getting all… spinny." She swayed back and forth.

Keita nodded, putting his own shot glass down. "Yeah… me too. But hey..." he said, holding her shoulder and meeting her eye. "I got pretty close."

Kotoko nodded, a silly smile gracing her face. "But you still lost."

He nodded. "But I was close!"

"Not. Close. Enough." Kotoko said, punctuating each word with a poke on his chest.

"Oh yeah?" Keita said, his tone daring her to say that again.

"Yeah."

Keita leaned over, pinning Kotoko down, and began tickling Kotoko's waists, targeting the areas that he knew were the most sensitive.

Immediately, she yelped and began to writhe under his touch and reached to tickle him back. He fell back a bit, laughing as he tried to avoid her hands.

"Say you're sorry!" Kotoko cried, glee in her eyes.

"Never!" Keita said, trying to curl up into a ball. Then, he saw it - an opening.

He leaned over, grabbed both of Kotoko's wrists, and pinned her down under him on the couch. He fell on top of her, with their noses a mere inch apart.

Neither of them moved.

Keita could only stare at her in drunken awe - her beautiful eyes, her long lashes, her pretty nose, her face, flushed red from the heavy drinking. And her lips. Her delicious lips that begged him to have a taste.

Kotoko could feel something stiff growing against her thigh, and her breath hitched in her throat. Keita began to lean in closer, his sense of judgment heavily under the influence of the night's study session.

"What… are you doing?" Kotoko murmured, staring straight at him, her eyes half-closed.

As if a spell over him had been broken, he let go of her arms almost immediately and jumped off the couch. He turned around quickly, to hide the sign of his arousal straining painfully against his pants.

"Uh… I think you should go." Keita said quietly, his face flushed red.

* * *

A/N: Second-lead syndrome strikes me again... sorry. I promise it'll stay a Kotoko x Naoki fic, though. But maybe I'll write a lemony spinoff of the last scene? Anyways, let me know what you think, and thanks so much as always for reading!


	5. In Which Mother Knows Best

**A/N:** Hi everyone! I'm so sorry that this update took so long. Work has been so, so busy in the past year and I've barely had time to write, let alone sleep. In an attempt to write more frequently, I've shortened the chapters a bit. Thank you for all your support and kind reviews - they're the things that keep me writing! I'll definitely try to update one more time before/on Valentines day, since I have a mini-vacation right now - whooooo!

And here are my replies to your reviews (in chronological order):

 **Guest (FFN):** Thank you so much for your kind words!

 **lantunez** **(FFN)** **:** (I had to use Google translate for your review. I hope it was accurate!) Thank you! Yes, I enjoy making Naoki suffer too, lol!

 **Karina KayKay** **(FFN)** **:** Glad to hear that! And thank you! :D

 **Tatistus** **(FFN)** **:** Sorry for the long wait, but I'm back! Hope I didn't make you cry too much :(

 **guest** **(FFN)** **:** Hah, indeed... well, in this story, anyway!

 **Guest** **(FFN)** **:** I totally get that! Personally, I'm fine with either but this story will be Kotoko x Naoki, don't worry! :)

 **Diva78** **(FFN)** **:** Yay, glad to hear it! Thank you!

 **Guest (FFN):** Thank you for your kind words!

 **Guest (FFN):** WISH GRANTED!

 **Rika Azumi Sakura Yukihara (FFN):** I'll try! Thank you :)

 **Sariahc (FFN):** Thank you so much! I had the entire story planned out but the characters seem to have their own ideas... so it'll be a surprise for me, too! Haha

 **Amorekristall (FFN):** Thank you so much for your kind words! I'm glad to hear that. I'll try to update more often! :D

Now, onto the story!

* * *

What happened in the next few minutes after she'd left Keita's room were a blur to Kotoko. Her feet had somehow carried her to the front of her door and she stood there, staring at the keypad below her doorknob.

Keita had tried to kiss her.

Keita, her best friend, banter buddy, and most reliable co-worker, had just tried to kiss her.

Did he like her? Not just as friends, but as something more?

The thought sent her stomach twisting uncomfortably. It was true that she'd valued Keita as one of the most important people in her life, but she'd never once considered him in that way.

As a hot-blooded, virile man.

Could she, though, if she tried hard enough? Kotoko definitely did not have those sorts of feelings for Keita, but he was such a huge part of her life that the thought of losing him sent a sharp pain through her heart. Would forcing feelings for him be the only way that she could keep him by her side? Or could the both of them write this episode off as a drunken misstep between friends, where alcohol had blurred the boundaries in their friendship, and laugh it off?

She stared at her door vacantly. She certainly didn't feel like laughing at the moment. She felt miserable.

Just then, the door let out a series of beeps, pushing Kotoko backward as it opened. From the door emerged Naoki, dressed in a tight-fitting black v-neck and shorts, and holding a garbage bag.

His eyes widened for a second upon seeing that someone had been on the other side of the door, but narrowed upon discovering that it'd been Kotoko.

"Back from your date, huh? Well, it's nice to know that contracts mean so much to you." He snapped. "I'm stuck taking out the garbage today instead of you, because you came home so damn late-"

Kotoko brushed past him with her eyes downcast, interrupting his spiel. "It wasn't a date, Director." She strode over to her room, and closed the door with a loud bang.

Naoki rolled his eyes. "Women."

. . . .

It was around 6 a.m. when Naoki was blissfully soaking in the morning sunshine on the balcony as he enjoyed his cup of coffee, when he heard the doorbell ring.

"Kotoko? Are you there?" A voice from the other side of the door called. "Kotoko, it's Keita. Open up for a sec, please?"

Naoki's eyes widened. Damn it, and after all he'd told her about respecting their contract's terms! He rushed over to her room, and knocked.

"Kotoko, your friend is here. Kamogari. I know you're in there, so get the door."

There was no response.

He knocked again. "Kotoko?"

His query was only met with more silence.

For a second, he contemplated reaching for the doorknob and opening the door. Then, he shook his head. No - if he started breaching the terms of their contract too, he'd be no better than Airhead herself. Sighing, he made his way back to the living room, contemplating what he should do.

He heard a series of beeps, indicating that Kamogari was trying to open their door by punching in the passcode. Thankfully, he'd changed it the night before after his dinner with Matsumoto, after Airhead had returned home. Putting his cup of coffee down on the counter, Naoki crept over to the front door and peeked out.

He saw Kamogari reaching into his pocket, and pulling out a sheet of folded paper. Then, he saw him crouching down and tucking the folded paper under the door. Then he saw Kamogari walk away, clearly down.

Naoki reached down and picked up the note. From the way it was folded, he could make out the words "kiss" and "important."

Being nosy went against everything that Naoki Irie stood for, but this was a special exception. Whatever was going on between Kotoko and Kamogari had the potential to make his living conditions even more unbearable than they were! Surely, that gave him the right to take a small peek? And judging from Kotoko's lack of response, she was probably dead asleep, anyway.

Naoki picked up his cup of coffee off the counter, finished its contents, washed the cup and dried it, and then walked back out to the balcony. Then, looking over his shoulder to ensure that Kotoko was still very much asleep in her room, he slowly unfolded the note.

"Dear Kotoko,

I can't even begin to apologize for what happened last night. I almost forced myself on you, and that was a mistake. My judgment was clearly impaired due to being drunk, and I can ensure you that such a thing will never happen again. I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable, but you're too important to me for me to lose you. Can you forgive me? Again, I'm so sorry.

I'm not going to be at Pandai this week because of finals. Going to live with a friend of mine for a week at the dorms. Talk to you when I get back? Dinner on me.

\- K"

Naoki's eyes widened, as he scanned the note again. So Kamogari had almost forced himself onto Kotoko? It was clear, then, that the boy had feelings for Kotoko. But judging from the way that Kotoko had been acting last night, it was clear that the feelings were not reciprocated.

Or at least, not yet.

"Because she likes me." He thought, smugly. Then, he blinked. Where had that thought come from?

Letting out a slow exhale, Naoki folded the note back up and placed it on the coffee table. Then, he got a sticky note from his room, wrote the new passcode on it, and stuck it on Keita's note before returning to his room to get dressed for his Saturday tennis match with Sudou.

. . .

Kotoko had fallen asleep with unexpected ease after returning from Keita's room, due to the alcohol-induced fatigue that clouded her brain. However, when she awoke at 12:03 p.m., the anxiety that had plagued her the night before came back, in full force.

Flashes of what had happened last night replayed themselves over and over in her head, and she groaned into her pillow. What had she done?

Just then, a sharp rapping at her door interrupted her session of self-loathing. "Kotoko?" Naoki's voice called from the other side of the door.

Oh yeah. And there was also the problem of Naoki. Naoki, her superior. Naoki, her superior, who she'd slapped across the face two nights ago. Naoki, her superior, who hated her.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

Kotoko quickly tied her hair up into a ponytail, and tried to straighten her wrinkled clothes as best as she could before answering the door.

"Um, yes?" she said as she opened the door, not quite meeting his eyes.

"This came for you this morning," he said, handing her a note. "From Kamogari."

Her eyes widened, as she snatched it from Naoki's sweaty palm.

Wait... sweaty palm?

Confused, she took a quick look at Naoki, and saw that he was dressed in tennis gear, with his clothes and hair clinging to him like second skin.

Ah.

"Um, thank you, Director." she muttered, before attempting to slink back into her room. However, Naoki stuck his hand out and prevented her from closing the door.

"We need to talk. About that." Naoki motioned over to the pile of her belongings, still very much a mess, in the corner of the living room. "When are you going to have it straightened out?"

Kotoko had actually been planning to organize that today, but now she almost felt as if she didn't want to do it anymore, out of spite.

"I'll take care of it." She pulled the doorknob, but Naoki still hadn't let go of the door.

"Well, um, I built the bookshelves for you." He said, not looking at her. "So get that done today."

Her eyes widened. Naoki, doing something nice for her? Out of his own volition? But, why? She looked at him suspiciously.

"You better get that shit cleaned up, or I'm going to throw it all over the balcony." He grumbled, disappearing into his own room.

He pulled the door shut, and fished his phone out of his pocket to check his schedule. The only things left on his agenda for the day were a short video conference with his associate in China, and a dinner meeting with a potential investor from Shinsekai Group.

Sighing, he grabbed a change of clothes and headed into the shower. No rest for the wicked.

. . .

Noriko Kotobuki tapped her shoe impatiently as the elevator ascended. It wasn't a habit that she indulged in that often, but she couldn't help but feel a sense of dread. It seemed that her darling boy, Naoki, was going to refuse to do as she said, despite all the restrictions that she'd placed on him already. Why did he have to fight back? Why did he have to insist in staying in the Art Department? Surely, he realized that the position at the Strategy Planning Department was a better alternative in every way. The salary was higher, the hours were shorter, and he'd be able to learn more about running the company directly from his father.

So, why?

The elevator's doors opened at the 27th floor, and Noriko slowly started making her way down the hallway.

She pulled out her phone to retrieve the code for Naoki's apartment from her inbox. Being the wife of the chairman granted her many perks, one of which being unrestricted access to all the information that the company's classified private servers had to offer.

"2707…. 2707. Ah, there we go." Noriko stood in front of the apartment, and entered the security code onto the keypad.

"Director Irie? I didn't think you'd be back so soon!" she heard someone call, from within the apartment. "I'm sorry, but I'm not quite finished cleaning yet-"

Noriko shut the door behind her, and entered the apartment.

And smiled.

Oh, fate sure worked in mysterious ways.

. . .

Kotoko looked up from the pile of sketchbooks that she'd been sorting through when she'd heard the beeping of the keypad from outside the door. Her eyes widened in panic. Surely Director Irie wouldn't go through with this threat from earlier that day… would he?

"Director Irie? I didn't think you'd be back so soon!" she called out, shoving her books onto the shelf as quickly as she could. "I'm sorry, but I'm not quite finished cleaning yet-"

She stopped in mid-speech when she turned around, and saw that a woman was bent over at the foyer, taking off her shoes.

"Um..." Kotoko began, approaching the woman, "who are you?"

The woman, having removed her heels, stood up and looked at Kotoko. "Ah, Ko-Ko! It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"Ms. K-Kotobuki?" Kotoko stammered, taking an involuntary step back. "What are you doing here?"

Ms. Noriko Kotobuki was a famous photographer who was another friend of her father's, from back in Nagoya. Since Ms. Kotobuki was a Nagoya native, she'd often held gallery shows in her hometown despite the fact galleries in many cities begged her to have exhibitions there, too. Kotoko's father had always taken Kotoko to Ms. Kotobuki's photo book release parties, and she'd always been more than generous to Kotoko.

But still, that didn't explain how she'd gotten into the apartment. Or what she was doing there.

Kotoko blinked dumbly, stepping back to allow Ms. Kotobuki inside of the apartment. Noriko floated over to a stool at the island counter in the kitchen and took a seat, tucking her dress under her in a graceful movement.

Noriko beamed. "I'd heard that my Naoki had a roommate, but I didn't realize that it was you, Honey! Oh, what a relief."

Kotoko stared at her blankly. "Um… your… Naoki, Ms. Kotobuki?"

Noriko blinked at her, folding her hands together on the surface of the counter. "Didn't I tell you, honey? I'm married to Shigeki. You know, your dad's friend, Mr. Irie. Naoki is my son."

Kotoko's jaw dropped.

What? How? Since when?

. . .

"So you see, Honey," Noriko said, sipping the cup of coffee that Kotoko had made her, "I never changed my name after Shigeki and I got married. My name in itself is a brand, as you know." She smiled, taking another sip. "This coffee is fantastic, Ko-Ko!"

Kotoko smiled sheepishly. "Thank you, Ms. Kotobuki. But, um, how come you never came by to the restaurant with Mr. Irie? And why was he never at your gallery openings or book signings?"

Noriko waved her hand. "Oh, you know Darling. Always busy with company work. And also, who'd watch the boys if the both of us were out about town?"

Kotoko nodded, taking a sip of her own coffee. So the Ms. Kotobuki that she'd known all these years - the bohemian soul with god-given gift for photography - had actually been married all this time, and had mothered two kids? One of them being Naoki?

"Anyway," Noriko continued, "the reason why I dropped by here today is because my Naoki is being such a pain in the rear." She let out a sigh. "I mean, you know me, hon. I'm not one for tradition. But Shigeki is insistent on wanting to train Naoki to be the successor of this company as soon as he can, but Naoki refuses to leave that Art Department of his!"

Kotoko flinched. Ms. Kotobuki was trying to get Director Irie to leave the Art Department? Before she could stop herself, she blurted out, "please, don't!"

Noriko blinked. "What?"

"Um, I mean..." Kotoko stammered. "I'm in the Art Department too, ma'am. And to be honest..." she looked at Noriko, "Director Irie has inspired me and my art in so many ways. Our department wouldn't be the same without him."

The older woman smiled coyly. "Oh, is that right?"

Kotoko nodded, blushing as she took another sip of her coffee.

"So..." Noriko began casually, stirring her coffee with a spoon, "you like Naoki, huh?"

Kotoko almost choked on her coffee, and her eyes widened. "I, er, that is… I..."

Noriko giggled gleefully, clapping her hands. "That's wonderful! You'd be a fine match for my boy. And does he know how you feel yet?" She looked at her expectantly.

Kotoko opened her mouth to answer, but was interrupted by the sound of the keypad being pressed on the other side of the door. Noriko stood up, and walked over to the door.

"Mother? What are you doing here?" Kotoko heard Naoki say, a hint of surprise in his voice.

"Nao! You didn't tell me that your roommate was Ko-Ko!" Noriko said gleefully, running over to the foyer to embrace her son. "Oh, this is great!"

Naoki hugged his mother back hesitantly, but broke away from her quickly. "Wait, who?"

"You know, Ko-Ko! You know, Mr. Aihara's daughter! We've been to his restaurant in Nagoya a couple of times!" she said, pulling her son inside of the apartment. Naoki quickly slipped out of his shoes and closed the door behind him, as he was dragged by his mother toward the couch in the living room.

Noriko sat down on the couch, and pulled Naoki down to sit next to her. "Join us, Ko-Ko!"

Naoki blinked. "Wait, Mr. Aihara? Nagoya?"

Then, his eyes widened and he turned toward Kotoko. "You're Mr. Aihara's daughter?" He turned to look at Kotoko, who'd taken a seat on the opposite side of Noriko, and groaned. "How did I not realize? The resemblance is uncanny… well, when it comes to your appearances, anyway."

Kotoko was at a loss for words. Who knew that Director Irie's family and her family had been connected so intimately, for so long?

Was this…

Was this fate?

Shaking her head, she banished the thought almost as soon as it'd come. No, no. Director Irie was a jerk. A cold-hearted jerk who'd rejected her confession letter without blinking an eye. And she was supposed to be giving up on him, not letting herself steep her thoughts in more fantasies of them!

But…

But…

What were the chances of all this happening, really?

Was it maybe, just possibly, fate at work?

Kotoko let out a deep breath that she hadn't realized that she'd been holding.

Noriko beamed. "I have a great idea, Nao!"

Naoki scowled. Whenever his mother said that she had a great idea, it'd turned out to work out pretty terribly for him.

"What is it, Mother?"

"Forget what I said about joining the Strategy Planning Department."

Naoki's eyes widened, as he turned toward her. "Do you really mean that, Mother? So can I-"

She held her hand up. "But. I have a few conditions."

Naoki nodded. Surely, they couldn't be worse than taking away all his lines of credit, like she initially had!

"I'll give you access to your money back. But..." Noriko turned toward Kotoko, who was lost in her fantasies of Naoki and herself. "You have to continue living with Kotoko in this apartment, and mentor her until Yuuki starts training under your father in three years."

"What?" Naoki and Kotoko shouted, getting up from the couch in unison.

Noriko shrugged. "Yuuki may be clever for his age, but he can't whizz through college like he did with elementary school. He should have time to enjoy college life." She got up to get her coffee from the counter, and sat back down on the couch. "And he's only 17. Attending college while being trained to be the heir of Pandai will be too much for even him to handle."

"And what's the other option?" Naoki asked, his voice growing cold.

"Report to the Strategy Planning Department tomorrow morning."

"What if I refuse both of those options?" Naoki said, glaring at his mother.

Noriko stared straight into her son's eyes. "Consider yourself out of a job."

. . .

Contract-writing must be an Irie-family thing, Kotoko decided, as she finished putting the last of her books on her new bookshelf in the living room, as Naoki fumed in his room. First Naoki, and now Noriko?

On the coffee table of the living room lay a hand-written contract, signed by Naoki, Kotoko, and Noriko. It read,

"We, the undersigned, agree to the following terms and conditions:

1\. Kotoko Aihara and Naoki Irie will cohabitate in suite 2707 of the Pandai Company Dorms, in rooms 2707A and 2707B respectively, until Yuuki Irie enters Pandai Corp. as a full-time employee.

2\. Kotoko Aihara will be given a weekly stipend deposited to her bank account via ACH as well as a sketchbook review every week by Naoki Irie for her troubles.

3\. Naoki Irie will not vacate apartment 2707 for longer than 16 hours without consent from Noriko Kotobuki.

4\. Naoki Irie will not find alternative accommodations, and will not live anywhere except suite 2707 with Kotoko Aihara.

5\. Failure to adhere to these terms will lead to Naoki Irie's immediate termination from Pandai, without unemployment benefits.

Noriko took a sip of her coffee. "This truly is superb, honey. You must tell me your secret!"

Kotoko smiled shyly. "Oh, it's nothing much. You just have to use filtered water, and brew the beans at the right temperature. Oh, and grinding the beans right before you brew them helps, too." She put the last book on the shelf, and joined Noriko on the couch.

"Please put this up in a prominent place, will you, honey?" Noriko said, pushing the contract over to Kotoko. "You know, so that my dear Nao won't ever forget."

Nodding, Kotoko took the contract from the coffee table and taped it up right next to the first contract that she'd signed with Naoki.

A smile crept onto her lips, which didn't escape Noriko's notice.

"Oh, this is going to be so fun," Noriko murmured to herself, as she took a final sip of her coffee.


End file.
